jJgy^gSRgg^gfr^^,:  -  .■:^F•.^^^ 


BV  2766  .P6  M67  1917 
Morris,  Samuel  Leslie,  1854- 

1937. 
The  task  that  challenges 


i;f)e  tKasife  i;f)at  Cfjallengeg 

Home  iliJisiion  tiext  Jlook 


S.  L.  MORRIS,  D.  D. 

Executive  Sccrctari/  of  Home  Missions,  Presbylrri<ni   Church  in  the 
Vnited  States 

AUTHOR    OF 

"AT  OUR  OWN  DOOR" 


\ii(l  tlu'iv  iviiiaincth  vet  very  much  laud  to  be  possessed." 

—Josh.  i;^:l. 


"Also  I  heard  tlie  voice  of  the  Lord,  sayiug.  Whom  shall  1  send,  aud 
who  will  go  for  us?     Theu  said  I,  Here  am  I,  seud  me."— Isa.  6:S. 


Presbyterian  Committee  of  Publication- 
Richmond,  Va. 


Copyriglit,  1917,  by 

PliKSHYTlOUIAN    CoMMlTTKK    OK    I'UBLICATION 

Richmond,  Va. 


TO 
MY  FAITHFUL  WIFE 

TJie  Companion  of  My  Joys  and  Sorrows 

And  to  My 

DEAR  CHILDREN 

7rt  whom  I  f 0171  ivould  bequeath  the  legacy  of  the  ujifintshed  Home 

Mission  Task,  this  volume  is  most  affectionately 

DEDICATED 


RICHMOND    PRESS,    INC.,    PRINTERS 


Contents; 

Page 

I.     Thk  Magnitude  of  the  Task 1 

II.     The  Equipment  for  the  Task 19 

III.  The  Scope  of  Home  Missions 32 

IV.  Evangelism,  Pastoral  and  Personal 59 

V.     The  Black  Man's  Burden 84 

VI .     Church  Erection 112 

VII.     Mission  Schools 128 

VIII.     America,  the  Melting  Pot 159 

IX.     The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life  187 

X.     The  Hand  of  Woman 219 

XI.    Training  for  Service 238 

XII.     God's  Call  to  Service 253 

Appendix - '  8 

Bibliography 285 

Index 290 


Mnatvatiom 


Page 

The  Field  of  American  Home  Alissions 5 

Religious  Census  of  Southern  States 11 

The  Problem  of  American  Christianity 62 

Stillman  Institute  and  the  Sam  Daily  Reformatory 102 

Tivo  Kinds  of  Monuments 123 

Oklahoma  Presbyterian  College  and  Senior  Class 149 

Samples  of  Foreign  Work  in  America 178 

Rev.  C.  W.  Grafton,  D.  D.-~A  Country  Pastor 208 

Ancient  Memorial  Tablet 224 

Pioneers  in  Woman  s  Work 227 

Activities  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary 232 

Dr.  E.  0.  Guerrant  and  Mountain  Missions 248 

Our  ''Farthest  West"  Missionary 258 


preface 


The  dawn  of  the  Twentieth  Century  found  the  church  facing  a  unique 
Home  Mission  situation  in  America.  The  existing  regime  which  had 
identified  Home  Missions  with  denominational  operations  for  minis- 
tering chiefl}'  to  ]noneer  conditions  in  frontier  regions,  came  gradually 
to  an  end.  New  situations,  invohing  acute  ])roblems,  arising  from  eco- 
nomic, social  and  moral  conditions,  thrust  themselves  into  prominence 
everywhere.  Political  Economists,  Social  Reformers  and  Christian 
Philanthrojiists  were  beginning  to  exercise  thought  and  enhst  their 
sympathies  to  meet  the  domestic  crisis,  induced  by  increasing  immigra- 
tion, social  unrest,  the  declining  coimtry  church,  overcrowding  in  cities, 
isolated  mountain  people,  and  other  backward  classes.  The  Church, 
occupied  with  its  individual  denominational  ]iro])aganda,  and  in  the 
throes  of  a  nation-wide  Forward  ^Movement  in  Foreign  Missions,  failed 
to  recognize  jiromptly  the  Home  Mission  crisis  which  had  sprung  up 
over  night. 

Such  was  the  status  of  affairs  when  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement  was  inaugurated  by  the  leading  denominations  of  the 
country.  Those  who  represented  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  were  Reverends  A.  L.  Phillips,  W.  R.  Dobyns,  S.  H. 
Chester,  H.  F.  ^^'illiams  and  S.  L.  ^  I  orris.  The  first  convention  was 
held  at  Lookout  Mountain,  Tenn.,  near  Chattanooga,  July  1-8,  1903. 
Foreign  Mission  text  books  were  in  abimdance,  but  all  parties  were 
embarrassed  by  lack  of  suitable  material  for  presenting  the  needs  and 
claims  of  Home  ^Missions.  The  only  available  books  were  "Our  Coun- 
try," by  Josiah  Strong;  "Leavening  the  Nation,"  bj'  Joseph  B.  Clark; 
"Presbyterian  Home  Missions,"  by  Sherman  H.  Doyle;  "Under  Our 
Flag,"  by  Alice  Guernsey,  and  "The  Minute  Man  on  the  Frontier," 
by  W.  G.  Puddefoot.  They  were  valuable,  but  not  specially  adapted 
to  our  section.  Not  a  Home  Mission  book  had  ever  been  jiroduced 
by  the  South,  discussing  its  pecuhar  problems.  The  Great  Southwest, 
The  Mountaineer,  The  Negro,  The  Indian,  etc.  This  convention, 
through  Dr.  A.  L.  PhiUips  as  spokesman,  challenged  the  writer  to  pre- 
pare a  Home  Mission  text  book  for  the  South.  Two  days  after  the 
convention  adjourned,  the  preparation  of  "At  Our  Own  Door"  was 


VIII  PBEFACE. 

begun  and  the  manuscript,  was  ready  for  the  ])ubHsher  within  three 
months.  It  was  the  pioneer  treatise  on  Home  Missions  for  the  South, 
and  met  with  a  generous  reception,  jiassing  through  seven  editions. 

The  development  of  Home  Mission  ideals  and  the  growth  of  the 
work  now  demand  a  supplemental  treatise  dealing  with  other  phases 
of  the  subject,  as  the  changes  during  the  last  decade  render  the  first 
book  incomplete.  This  second  ])ook  will  be  no  duplication  of  the 
first,  with  one  possible  exception.  "At  Our  Own  Door,"  originally 
contained  no  chapter  on  Immigration.  In  its  seventh  and  revised  edi- 
tion, such  a  chapter  was  added.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  larger 
number  have  the  unrevised  earlier  editions  and  would  not  possess  other- 
wise a  comjilete  treatment  of  the  subject,  it  has  been  decided  to  incor- 
porate the  new  chapter  on  Immigration,  enlarged  and  revised,  in  this 
volume,  so  that  the  reader  will  then  be  in  full  possession  of  the 
different  phases  of  the  Home  Mission  problem. 

Much  of  the  material  used  by  the  author  has  been  adajited  from 
addresses  delivered  on  various  occasions,  which  will  account  for  forms 
of  expression  and  the  style  of  large  portions  of  it,  as  well  as  the  allusions 
occasionally  to  the  same  conditions  and  needs  of  the  work. 

Mrs.  W.  C.  Winsborough,  the  efficient  superintendent  of  the  Woman's 
Auxiliary,  has  kindly  consented  to  i)repare  the  chajiter  on  "The  Hand 
of  Woman"  in  the  work  of  the  Church. 

The  author  hereby  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  for  valuable 
assistance  to  Dr.  Homer  McMillan,  his  esteemed  colleague;  to  Miss 
Barbara  E.  Lambdin,  for  ];)rei)aring  the  helpful  questionnaire  of  the 
a])])endix;  and  to  Miss  Eleanora  A.  Berry,  for  the  exhaustive  catalogue 
of  Home  Mission  books  in  the  Bibliograj^hy.  which  will  suggest  in- 
\ahuible  material  for  further  research  and  indicate  the  wide  develoj)- 
ment  of  Home  Mission  literature  in  the  jiast  ten  years. 

If  this  second  literary  venture  in  behalf  of  the  cause  to  which  the 
author  has  devoted  his  life  at  the  call  of  his  Church,  should  result  in 
still  further  intensifying  the  interest  and  stimulating  the  activities  of 
the  Churcli  in  the  task  of  Christianizing  Christendom,  lie  will  be  more 
tlriii  satisfied. 

SAMUEL  LESLIE  MORRIS. 

Alhiiild,  (1(1. 


tKfje  Za^k  tlTtjat  Challenges! 


I. 

THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  TASK. 

The  two  greatest  enterprises  confronting  the  Church  of 
the  Twentieth  Century  are  the  EvangeHzation  of  the  World 
and  the  Christianization  of  America.  The  first  is  the  aim 
and  purpose  of  the  department  of  Church  operations  known 
as  Foreign  Missions.  The  second  is  the  task  of  the  co- 
ordinate department  designated  Home  Missions.  The 
two  stand  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  circumference 
and  circle,  and  to  enlarge  the  circumference  is  to  increase 
the  area  included  in  the  circle.  The  successes  of  Foreign 
Missions,  therefore,  necessarily  enlarge  the  sphere  of  Home 
Missions. 

Mutual  Dependence. 

They  are  as  mutually  dependent  for  the  advance  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  as  the  two  oars  of  a  boat,  or  the  two 
departments  of  an  army.  The  one  is  an  advance  guard 
for  exploiting  new  territory,  and  the  other  is  the  base  of 
supplies  for  sustaining  the  march.  The  one  advances  into 
new  territory,  establishing  outposts;  the  other  subjugates 
and  assimilates  it  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Kingdom.  If 
the  25,000,000  heathen  assumed  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  as  its  proportionate  share  in 
the  Evangelization  of  the  World  were  reached  by  the 
Gospel,  it  would  ipso  facto  add  these  millions  to  the  Home 
Mission  task. 

Consequently,  the  end  of  the  Foreign  Mission  campaign 
is  but  the  beginning  of  the  Home  Mission  task.  It  is 
possible  to  conceive  of  the  Foreign  Mission  work  of  the 


2  '      The  Task  That  Challenges 

Church  as  practically  finished ;  to  forecast  a  time  when  the 
last  man  "unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth"  will  have 
heard  the  gospel  story  of  the  cross.  The  missionary  slogan 
of  the  age,  heard  in  pulpit  and  on  convention  platform,  is 
the  Evangelization  of  the  World  /;/  this  generation.  It  is 
not  possible,  however,  to  imagine  the  Home  Mission  task 
as  finished.  It  is  as  eternal  and  perpetual  as  the  genera- 
tions of  men  yet  unborn. 

In  the  strictest  sense  the  two  are  inseparably  connected 
and  to  a  large  extent  simultaneous.  At  the  very  moment 
we  are  striving  to  evangelize  the  heathen,  we  cannot  be 
any  the  less  strenuous  in  our  efforts  to  save  America,  and 
vice  versa.  The  distinction  between  the  two  departments 
is  gradually  being  obliterated.  The  incoming  of  a  million 
foreigners  annually  into  the  United  States  is  transferring 
the  battle  with  heathenism  largely  to  our  own  shore;  and 
the  statement  has  recently  been  made  by  an  eminent  au- 
thority that  Evangelical  Christianity  is  losing  in  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  as  many  as  we  are  gaining  in 
converts  on  heathen  shores.  In  one  of  his  addresses,  John 
R.  Mott  said  recently:  "It  is  a  remarkable  concurrence  of 
divine  providence  that  at  the  very  moment  unprecedented 
world  opportunities  challenge  the  Church  abroad,  there  is 
the  fiercest  conflict  raging  for  the  possession  of  our  own 
country,"  being  conclusive  evidence  in  his  judgment  that 
God  has  unbounded  confidence  in  the  men  of  this  genera- 
tion. 

In  his  thoughtful  treatise,  "The  Mission  of  Our  Nation," 
Dr.  Jno.  F.  Love,  Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  affirms:  "The  man 
who  minimizes  the  importance  of  any  department  of  mis- 
sions leaves  himself  without  ground  for  the  strongest  ap- 
peal for  any  department  of  missions. 

"We  shall  never  be  able  to  develop  a  great  conscience 
concerning  any  one  department  of  our  missionary  work, 
except  we  develop  a  great  conscience  concerning  it  all. 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  3 

"Though  he  may  not  think  so  hhnself,  a  man  whose 
appeal  is  wholly  for  Foreign  Missions  may  be  as  truly 
provincial  as  one  who  is  all  for  Home  Missions,  for  his  field 
does  not  comprehend  the  whole  world." 

With  equal  emphasis  in  "The  Frontier,"  the  late  Dr. 
Ward  Piatt,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  inquires:  "Have  we  not 
come  to  a  time  when  we  must,  of  necessity,  arise  and  save 
our  own  land,  if  humanity  is  to  be  saved?  America  for 
Christ  means  the  world  for  Christ,  but  the  whole  round 
world  for  Christ  means  all  America  as  his." 

An    Unfinished  Task. 

In  the  whole  real  of  America,  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
a  saved  state,  or  county,  or  even  a  city.  There  is  no  ham- 
let so  small  that  it  can  be  regarded  as  thoroughly  Chris- 
tianized. E\erywhere  in  the  most  model  communit>' 
there  is  some  chaff  among  the  wheat,  and  perhaps  in  most 
sections  the  chaff  predominates.  This  necessarily  makes 
the  scope  of  Home  Missions  co-extensive  with  the  bounds 
of  the  continent. 

The  most  superficial  consideration  cannot  fail  to  show 
the  Home  Mission  task  in  large  dimensions,  and  even  at 
the  risk  of  rehearsing  some  things  as  familiar  as  twice-told 
tales,  there  are  certain  elements  entering  into  it,  w-hich 
magnify  not  simply  its  proportions,  but  its  transcendent 
importance  in  its  vital  relation  to  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Area. 

Only  by  comparisons  can  there  be  any  adequate  appre- 
ciation of  the  area  of  our  country.  It  is  a  land  of  magnifi- 
cent distances  and  limitless  bounds.  China  proper  could 
easily  be  accommodated  in  our  great  West,  with  sufficient 
territory  left  to  include  several  of  the  great  world  powers. 
Japan  could  be  laid  down  on  the  map  of  California,  and 
still  leave  room  for  Korea.     Texas  could  include  the  Ger- 


4  The  Task  That  ChaUeufjes 

man  Emjjire  and  England,  and  perhaps  furnish  abundance 
of  additional  ground  for  their  gigantic  battle  fields.  Leav- 
ing out  Russia,  nearly  all  Europe  could  be  hidden  in  the 
eighteen  states  occupied  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States. 

Dr.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  in  a  very  striking  wa\',  empha- 
sizes these  same  startling  facts:  "So  vast  is  our  country  that 
many  of  us  who  haN'C  lived  here  a  lifetime  ceinnot  compre- 
hend its  extent,  because  we  ha^'e  not  traveled  oxer  it. 
Think  of  the  achievements  of  Germany,  the  history  of 
France,  the  glories  of  Italy.  Here  we  have  a  single  state 
named  Texas  into  which  the  greater  part  of  Germany, 
France  and  Italy  could  be  swept.  Simply  to  understand 
that  vast  state,  you  must  take  the  cars  and  tra\el  all  day 
long  through  wide  forests.  Then  take  the  cars  and  travel 
another  day  through  the  rich  rice  fields.  The  third  day 
will  carry  you  across  the  pastures  and  meadows,  co\-ered 
with  herds  and  flocks.  Yet  that  state  but  faintly  images 
the  country  as  a  whole.  Why,  you  can  put  all  France  into 
New  York,  New  England  and  Ohio.  You  can  drop  Ger- 
many, Austria,  Italy  and  Spain,  with  Switzerland  and 
Portugal,  into  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Then  \<)U 
can  put  China  into  the  states  north  of  the  Red  River  and 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  Texas  will  swallow  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  Denmark,  Holland  and  Belgium.  Now  drop 
Japan  into  California,  like  a  stone  splashing  in  a  lake. 
Oregon  and  Washington  will  be  left  for  any  chance  nation 
in  Christendom  that  we  may  have  forgotten;  and  then 
Alaska  will  open  her  capacious  arms  and  offer  to  take  them 
all  in  again." 

Confining  our  study  to  the  area  embraced  in  the  South, 
it  aggregates  1,205,720  square  miles.  Texas,  an  empire 
within  itself,  contains  265,780  square  miles.  W.  E. 
Doughty,  Educational  Secretary  of  the  Laymen's  Mis- 
sionary Movement,  asserts:  "If  France  were  an  island  and 
Texas  a  sea,  and  the  island  were  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 


Tltc  M(i[/)iifu(le  of  the  Task 


0    I    -f    /  "a. 


6  TJte  Task  That  ChaUenyea 

the  people  of  the  island  would  be  out  of  sight  of  land  in 
every  direction."  The  distance  between  El  Paso  and 
Texarkana  in  the  state  of  Texas  is  as  great  as  from  Rome 
to  London,  and  it  takes  a  fast  train  twenty-four  hours  to 
make  this  journey  across  the  state.  Arizona  is  about 
the  size  of  Italy,  and  New  Mexico  but  slightly  smaller  than 
Great  Britain,  and  the  distance  across  these  two  states  is 
as  far  as  from  New  York  to  Chicago. 

Unoccupied  Land. 

In  connection  with  the  meeting  of  the  Commercial  Con- 
gress in  Mobile,  Ala.,  during  1913,  the  statement  appeared 
in  the  public  press  that  the  South  contained  400,000,000 
acres  of  fertile  but  uncultivated  land,  practically  one-half 
of  its  total  area.  Arizona  has  the  largest  untouched  forest 
in  the  United  States.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Clarence 
Hamilton  Poe  declares  in  the  World's  Work:  "The  last 
fifty  years  have  seen  the  making  of  a  dozen  new  common- 
wealths beyond  the  Mississippi;  the  next  fifty  years  will 
see  the  remaking  of  a  dozen  old  commonwealths  below 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  From  1900  to  1950  the  South 
will  be  the  land  of  opportunity.  As  our  epic  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  was  "The  Winning  of  the  West,"  so  our 
epic  of  the  Twentieth  Century  will  be  "The  Development 
of  the  South." 

Population. 

The  Census  Bureau  of  Washington  estimated  that  the 
United  States  passed  the  100,000,000  mark  in  population 
April  1,  1915,  and  it  must  be  several  millions  beyond  that 
figure  by  the  present  time.  As  the  United  States  has 
regularly  doubled  itself  every  twenty-five  years  during  the 
past  one  hundred  years,  should  the  same  rate  of  increase 
continue  for  the  next  hundred  years,  it  will  reach  the 
enormous  number  of  1,600,000,000,  equal  to  the  present 
population  of  the  globe.     Even  if  the  same  rate  of  increase 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  7 

does  not  continue,  it  will  still  be  sufficient  to  make  the 
population  enormous.  If  this  seems  incredible,  consider 
the  calculation  of  W.  E.  Doughty:  "If  the  United  States, 
including  Alaska  and  the  island  possessions,  were  as  densely 
populated  as  is  the  Island  of  Java,  we  would  have  in  this 
country  one  and  one-half  times  the  present  population 
of  the  globe,  and  yet  the  United  States  would  not  then  be 
more  denseh*  populated  than  Belgium."  The  same  au- 
thority states:  "If  we  add  together  the  eighteen  provinces 
of  China  proper,  Japan,  European  Turkey,  Bulgaria, 
Greece,  Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  Portugal, 
Italy,  France,  Germany,  Austria,  Denmark  and  Great 
Britain,  they  equal  about  the  same  geographical  area  as 
the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska  and  our  island 
possessions.  In  the  countries  named,  the  census  shows  a 
population  of  more  than  700,000,000  people."  Arkansas, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
are  equal  in  area  to  France,  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary, 
which  have  a  population  of  150,000,000. 

According  to  the  last  census,  the  South  contained  33,- 
200,000  souls,  but  that  was  seven  years  ago,  and  it  is  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  a  half  million  a  year.  Statistics 
indicate  that  the  South  and  West  are  growing  faster  than 
any  section  of  our  rapidly  developing  country,  and  destined 
to  increase  beyond  all  calculation  as  the  tide  of  immigra- 
tion turns  more  and  more  southward.  A  conservative 
estimate  gives  the  South  in  this  year,  1917,  at  least  36,- 
000,000.  Perhaps  we  already  have  about  as  many  people 
as  the  British  Isles  or  France;  and  in  all  probability  the 
next  census  will  show  that  we  have  left  these  two  great 
European  powers  far  behind  in  numbers.  Texas  is  abun- 
dantly able  to  support  the  present  population  of  the  United 
States.  If  it  were  as  densely  populated  as  Rhode  Island, 
Texas  would  contain  135,487,800  people.  If  the  entire 
population  of  the  earth  should  migrate  to  Texas,  it  would 
contain  only  nine  people  to  the  acre.     In  view  of  the  fact 


8  The  Task  That  ChalUnges 

that  the  South  embraces  the  larger  part  of  the  Mississi()pi 
Valley,  the  Atlantic  coast  and  the  fertile  jilains  of  the 
Southwest,  it  is  not  beyond  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
time  is  coming  when  it  will  number  w'ithin  its  bounds 
500,000,000   people. 

Unreached  Masses. 

Classifying  the  population  of  the  Ihiited  States,  now  o\er 
102,000,000,  Dr.  H.  K.  Carroll,  who  revises  the  religious 
statistics  each  year,  assigns  in  round  numbers  twenty- 
four  millions  to  the  Protestant  churches,  fourteen  millions 
to  the  Roman  Catholic,  and  one  million  to  the  Mormon, 
Christian  Scientist  and  other  non-evangelical  bodies. 
This  would  leave  sixty-three  millions  unreached  by  any 
branch  of  the  Church,  whether  Christian  or  non-evangelical. 
If  we  allow  one-third  for  children  under  ten  years  of  age, 
this  would  lea\e  42,000,000  of  adults  who  have  never 
even  made  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  If  we  reckon 
one-half  of  the  church  membership  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  non-evangelical,  as  regenerate,  and  then  add 
the  other  half  to  the  unsaved  who  make  no  profession  of 
faith  in  Christ,  there  can  be  no  escaping  the  startling 
conclusion  that  the  most  Christian  country  of  the  globe 
faces  the  enormous  task  of  yet  reaching  more  than  60,000," 
000  of  its  adult  people.  Does  it  shock  our  Christian  con- 
sciousness that  these  figures  indicate  the  undisputed  fact 
that  there  are  more  unsaved  people  in  the  United  States 
than  the  entire  population  of  the  German  nation,  or  of  the 
great  Japanese  Empire,  including  Korea! 

Allowing  to  the  South  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
country,  it  follows  that  at  least  20,000,000  of  unsaved 
souls  is  our  responsibility.  It  must  be  recognized,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  simply  a  calculation  reached  by  careful 
though  fallible  human  estimates;  and  that  none  except 
"the  Judge  of  all  the  earth"  can  determine  what  propor- 
tion of  these  are  saved  and  the  vast  numl)er  lK)th  within 


The  Ma(juUv(h  of  fhc  Task  9 

and  without  the  Church  who  are  yet  to  be  reached  In-  the 
gos])el  of  Christ. 

The   ]]'ork  Before   Us. 

There  are  within  our  bounds  more  than  19,000,000  i)er- 
sons  not  members  of  any  church,  Protestant  Roman 
Cathohc  or  Jewish,  according  to  the  official  United  States 
census.     These  are  distributed  in  round  numbers  as  follows: 

Alabama 1,211,000  or  .59^  c  of  ])oi)ulation 

.Vrkansas 996,000  or  TO^c-  of  population 

Florida 408,000  or  65%  of  population 

Georgia '. 1,415,000  or  57%  of  population 

Kentucky : .  .  1,4()2,()00  or  63%  of  population 

Louisiana 751,000  or  49%  of  population 

Maryland 804,000  or  63%  of  population 

Mississippi. 1,051,000  or  62%  of  population 

Missouri 2,164,000  or  64%  of  population 

New  Mexico. 80,000  or  36%  of  population 

North  Carolina 1,236,000  or  60%  of  population 

( )klahoina 1,157,000  or  82%  of  population 

South  Carolina 788,000  or  54%  of  population 

Tennessee 1,465,000  or  68%  of  ])opulation 

Texas 2,410,000  or  65%  of  population 

Virginia 1,180,000  or  60%  of  ])opulation 

West  Virginia 776,000  or  72%  of  population 

One  of  the  most  conservative  Home  Mission  chairmen  in 
Arkansas  insists  that  a  new  denomination  could  be  or- 
ganized in  that  state,  outnumbering  all  the  present  com- 
bined membership  of  the  churches  without  taking  one  indi- 
vidual from  anv  other  denomination,  which  statement 
would  hold  true  of  most  of  the  other  states.  W.  H. 
Roberts,  D.  D.,  American  Secretary  of  the  Pan  Presby- 
terian Alliance,  announced  that  60  per  cent,  of  the  voters 
of  this  country  are  not  identified  with  any  branch  of  the 
Church. 

One  hundred  years  ago,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  when  the  population  of  the  United  States 


10  The  Task  That  Challenges 

was  three  and  one-half  million,  it  is  claimed  that  one  in 
fourteen  was  a  church  communicant.  During  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  population  increased  about  1,500  per  cent., 
but  church  membership  increased  in  the  same  period  over 
10,000  per  cent.  These  were  encouraging  figures,  indi- 
cating that  Christianity  was  winning  and  that  the  Home 
Mission  task,  in  spite  of  its  enormous  proportions,  was 
being  accomplished.  What  a  rude  shock  was  the  census 
of  1910,  showing  that  while  population  increased  during 
the  first  decade  of  the  Twentieth  Century  21  per  cent., 
church  membership  also  increased  exactly  21  per  cent. 
In  other  words,  during  the  first  decade  of  this  century,  the 
Church  had  only  been  marking  time  in  the  United  States. 
It  raises  the  question  whether  it  is  not  actually  falling  be- 
hind in  the  procession,  while  everything  else  in  this  mar- 
velous century  is  making  enormous  strides.  If  the  Church 
does  not  increase  infinitely  faster  than  population,  what  is 
the  outlook  for  the  Home  Mission  task?  What  the  conse- 
quences to  the  Kingdom  for  "the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation"?  What  the  hope  of  the  world 
even  for  the  Twentieth  Century? 

In  "The  Frontier,"  by  Dr.  Ward  Piatt,  occur  such  state- 
ments as  the  following:  "Throughout  Washington  and 
Oregon  may  be  found  scores  of  narrow  valleys  teeming 
with  people.  No  one  is  doing  anything  for  them  re- 
ligiously, as  but  little  is  attempted  by  any  Church  for 
Washington  or  Oregon  outside  the  towns.  In  southwestern 
Oregon  is  a  county  of  about  1,500  square  miles,  in  which 
live  at  least  2,500  people,  mostly  Americans;  and  no  de- 
nomination, according  to  report  made  last  year,  is  doing 
any  work  whatever  in  that  whole  country.  They  are  ab- 
solutely without  church  privileges."  As  to  Washington, 
he  cites  a  Missionary  Superintendent,  who  declares  "the 
religious  destitution  of  western  Washington  to  be  appall- 
ing; that  outside  the  larger  towns  very  little  religious  work 
is  being  done  by  any  denomination.     In  his  division  only 


2  2  ^  H 

I"  ^  ^  >  r:  ID  rn 

^     (n       '     ~ 


^  ?  c  ^  ^ 


'  _  /V  to  Ij  L 
>  c/^  <  O  ^  > 
S   >  i:  ^    -   ^ 


>  D   X 

u)   p  n 

>  o  X 

Z 
> 


5? 


12  The  Task  'ihat  ChaUeiKjes 

209  towns  out  of  1,146  have  church  organizations,  lea\ing 
93/  towns  and  villages  without  any  reHgious  privileges 
whatever."  Probably  such  extensive  areas  of  destitution 
exist  nowhere  in  the  South,  except  possibly  in  certain  sec- 
tions of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  or  in  the  thinly 
settled  territory  of  Western  Texas  and  New  Mexico;  but 
whether  it  exists  in  large  areas  or  not,  it  certainly  can  be 
duplicated  in  numerous  smaller  communities,  making  a 
vast  region  in  the  aggregate. 

Perplexing  Problems. 

In  Home  Missionary  enterprise  the  simple  life  is  a  thing 
of  the  past.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century, 
less  than  two  decades  ago,  there  was  really  but  one  supreme 
problem.  It  consisted  chiefly  in  camping  on  the  trail  of 
the  emigrant  drifting  ever  westward,  organizing  and  build- 
ing new  churches  in  new  communities,  to  accommodate 
the  shifting  centers  of  population.  It  was  pioneering  on 
the  ever-expanding  frontier.  To-day  the  entire  situation 
is  changed,  and  the  Church  faces  a  new  world  of  thought 
and  action. 

The  frontier  returns  from  circumference  back  to  center. 
It  is  no  longer  in  the  great  West  simply,  far  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  but  shifts  to  the  overcrowded  cities  or  our 
disintegrating  rural  communities.  The  problems  of  the 
South  are  now  complicated  by  their  complexity  and  in- 
tensified by  their  perplexity.  Rural  communities  are  com- 
mitting suicide  by  emigration,  under  the  magnetic  influence 
of  our  great  cities,  or  else  in  the  hope  of  purchasing  more 
productive  lands  in  the  West,  and  the  once  vigorous 
country  church  becomes  a  Home  Mission  burden. 

The  mountaineers  are  afflicted  with  hopeless  poverty 
and  much  of  the  missionary  effort  expended  in  their  behalf 
promises  instead  of  self-support  a  never-ending  expenditure 
of  money  commensurate  with  their  dire  need. 

Nine  million  Negroes  in   the  Sotith  bring  the  Frontier 


The  Maguitudc  <,f  the  Task  IS 

into  every  man's  back  yard  and  kitchen;  and  the  helping 
hand  extended  to  them  in  their  pathetic  need  can  nexer  be 
withdrawn  without  the  possibiht\'  of  their  relapsing  speedily 
into  heathenism.  Mill  populations  are  so  migratory  as 
to  make  them  the  despair  alike  of  Christian  philanthropists 
and  ecclesiastical  statesmen.  Mining  towns  and  lumber 
camps,  isolated  from  home  influences  of  mothers  and 
sisters,  ha\e  always  been  well-nigh  hopeless  from  a  religious 
standpoint,  and  the  problem  is  still  further  complicated  by 
the  admixture  of  alien  people  and  the  introduction  of 
national  jealousies  flaring  up  at  times  into  actual  warfare 
and  bloodshed. 

This  suggests  the  furl  her  problem  of  the  incoming  ot 
heterogeneous  masses  of  immigrants  into  the  South,  which 
was  until  quite  recently  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon  section  of 
America.  It  would  also  be  a  debatable  question  whether 
the  city  slums,  with  their  awful  degradation  and  hoj)eless 
wretchedness;  or  the  fashionable  suburbs,  with  automobiles 
and  golf  links  practicall\'  abrogating  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
is  the  more  perplexing  prol)lem.  Perhaps  there  is  no  sec- 
tion of  the  globe  that  presents  such  an  admixture  of  white 
and  colored,  nati\e  and  alien,  urban  and  rural,  factory  and 
aristocracy,  as  does  the  South. 

Is  it  an\'  wonder  at  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion in  Baltimore,  as  Rew  F'.  B.  Meyer  stepped  from  the 
platform  and  a  reporter  on  the  daily  paper  asked  him: 
"Mr.  Meyer,  you  have  just  traveled  around  the  world 
studying  Foreign  Missions;  tell  me,  what  in  your  \'iew 
is  the  greatest  mission  field  in  the  world";  that  cpiick  as  a 
flash  came  the  answer:  "The  laiited  States,  because  here 
>'ou  ha\'e  all  nationalities  of  the  world  centered." 

C  0 ;/ //  id  i  n  <^   Fo  rces . 

If  evangelical  Christianity-  were  unhindered  in  its  mis- 
sionary purpose  to  make  "our  country  God's  country,"  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  q\qw  then  might  stagger  any  except 


14  The  Task  That  Challenges 

men  of  gigantic  faith;  but,  as  in  apostolic  times,  "there  are 
many  adversaries."  Roman  Catholicism  is  sparing  neither 
pains  nor  means  to  fasten  its  tentacles  like  a  huge  octopus 
upon  our  country.  Already  it  has  the  largest  membership 
in  sixteen  states,  and  controls  such  cities  as  Boston  and 
New  York,  maintains  a  lobby  at  Washington  to  influence 
legislation  in  the  interests  of  its  schemes,  and  practically 
owns  the  great  daily  pajjers.  Mormonism  is  a  menace 
to  home,  society,  church  and  the  government.  It  has 
2,300  missionaries,  with  the  characteristic  zeal  of  fanaticism, 
making  a  house-to-house  canvass  of  the  whole  country 
but  especially  of  the  South.  Christian  Science  spreads 
its  net  for  the  unwary,  and  entangles  in  its  share  the  idle 
rich,  the  superficial  thinking,  the  unbalanced  crank,  and 
entraps  and  preys  upon  the  suffering  by  holding  out  de- 
lusive hopes  of  health.  The  Theosophist,  the  Spiritualist, 
the  Socialist,  the  Atheist  and  Russellite  are  all  in  the  field, 
opposing  and  withstanding  Christianity  as  Jannes  and 
Jambres  disputed  Moses  3,500  years  ago. 

In  the  early  days  of  Christianity  the  conflict  was  with 
Judaism  and  Paganism.  In  the  Dark  Ages  it  was  with  a 
corrupt  and  apostate  church.  In  the  Eighteenth  Century 
the  foe  was  deism  and  infidelity.  In  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury it  was  Materialism  and  Commercialism;  but  seeing 
his  time  is  short,  Satan  seems  to  have  marshaled  all  the 
foes  and  forces  of  the  past  to  assault  the  citadel  of  faith  in 
this  Twentieth  Century. 

The  greatest  conflict  of  the  ages  is  raging  in  Europe  at 
the  date  of  this  writing.  To  a  certain  extent  the  whole 
world  is  more  or  less  involved.  France,  Belgium,  Poland, 
Serbia,  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  are  a  sea  of  blood,  and  Europe 
is  a  house  of  tears.  Yet  this  material  physical  conflict, 
which  has  been  raging  for  three  years,  though  it  shocks 
our  sensibilities  till  reason  almost  staggers,  is  not  the  real 
world  battle.     The  Armageddon  of  the  world  is  the  eternal 


Tlie  Magnitude  of  the  Task  15 

spiritual  struggle,  which  was  never  so  fierce,  so  uncompro- 
mising, so  gigantic,  so  momentous  as  to-day. 

America,  the  Key  to  the  Situation. 

Mr.  \V.  T.  Ellis,  who  has  toured  the  world  in  the  interest 
of  Foreign  Missions  and  has  done  so  much  to  arouse  the 
United  States  to  the  necessity  of  a  forward  movement,  if 
the  world  is  to  be  speedily  evangelized,  yet  did  not  lose 
sight  of  the  magnitude  of  the  Home  Mission  task,  and  ga\e 
utterance  to  a  sentiment  which  has  crystallized  in  the 
Christian  consciousness  of  the  country:  "The  entire 
Christianization  of  North  America  is  the  greatest  single 
enterprise  confronting  the  churches  of  the  whole  world." 
This  coincides  with  the  statement  of  Dr.  Josiah  Strong: 
"He  does  most  to  Christianize  the  world  and  to  hasten  the 
coming  of  the  Kingdom  who  does  most  to  make  thoroughly 
Christian  the  United  States."  John  R.  Mott,  Secretary 
of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  clearly  understood 
the  necessity  of  a  strong  base  of  supplies  for  evangelizing 
the  world  when  he  gave  forth  the  statement,  "The  greatest 
problem  of  Foreign  Missions  is  not  on  the  foreign  field, 
but  on  the  home  field."  Dr.  Homer  McMillan,  Secretary 
of  Home  Missions,  is  in  thorough  accord  with  these  posi- 
tions in  the  statement  that  "America  is  the  fulcrum  and 
the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  lever  that  is  to  lift  mankind 
out  of  the  darkness  of  superstition  into  the  light  of  truth." 

Surely  these  quotations  from  men  of  profound  thought, 
large  vision,  and  world-wide  observation,  should  serve  to 
focus  the  attention  of  the  whole  Church,  not  only  on  the 
magnitude,  but  the  vital  importance  of  the  unfinished  and 
ever-expanding  Home  Mission  task.  If  the  Home  Mission 
slogan  is  true,  "As  goes  America,  so  goes  the  world,"  it 
follows  inevitably  that  he  who  does  most  to  evangelize 
America  does  most  to  evangelize  the  world;  and  the  con- 
verse of  the  proposition  is  equally  true,  that  if  we  cannot 
evangelize  America,  we  cannot  evangelize  the  world. 


16  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Defin ite  Respo n s ihility . 

In  Missionary  Con\'entions  and  Board  Conferences,  there 
is  a  growing  tendency  to  di^'ide  and  limit  the  responsibility 
of  each  board  and  denomination  in  the  task  of  evangelizing 
the  world.  The  field  has  been  surveyed  and  the  world 
partitioned.  It  has  a  noble  purpose,  the  elimination  of 
waste  forces,  and  it  seeks  to  unite  Christendom  in  co- 
operative rather  than  competitive  efforts.  The  ideal  is 
worth  while,  even  though  practical  difficulties  and  the 
sectarian  spirit  of  certain  denominations  prevent  the  full 
realization  of  this  most  Christian  goal. 

"The  Home  Missions  Council,"  composed  of  twenty- 
seven  boards  and  agencies,  aided  by  twelve  women's 
boards  constituting  an  auxiliary  Council  of  Women  for 
Home  Missions,  is  an  effort  to  apply  unselfish  principles 
in  the  Christianization  of  America.  The  following  resolu- 
tion states  clearly  the  meaning  and  puri:)osc  of  the  Home 
Missions  Council:  "It  will  be  noted  that  our  recommenda- 
tions are  not  in  the  direction  of  union  of  churches,  mis- 
sionaries or  missionary  societies,  but  in  the  direction  of 
practicable  co-operation,  involving  increase  rather  than 
decrease  of  denominational  acti\'ity.  The  course  of  the 
Home  Missions  Council  is  clear.  Our  one  business  is  to 
push  the  Christianization  of  America  through  the  estab- 
lished church  agencies.  Co-operation  is  essential  in  doing 
this.  Keeping  the  issues  clarified  and  simplified,  so  far  as 
we  are  concerned,  we  should  follow  a  steady  policy  and 
adopt  \'igorous  measures  for  accomplishing  two  ends: 
One  is,  the  pre\'ention  of  wasting,  1)\  competition,  mis- 
sionary funds,  workers  and  interest ;  the  other  and  para- 
mount end  is,  the  establishment  of  efficient  co-operation 
among  evangelical  denominations  so  as  to  meet  the  unmet 
spiritual  needs  of  America." 

The  difficulties  in  the  home  field  are  intensely  real  and 
practical,  but  substantial  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
way  of  pre\enting  both  overlapping  and  o\erlooking. 


The  Magnitude  of  the  Task  17 

In  endorsing  heartily  the  principle  of  comity,  and  honest- 
ly endeavoring  to  make  effective  these  plans  of  co-operation, 
at  the  same  time  it  must  be  recognized  that  there  can  be  no 
arbitrary  divisions  of  the  unreached  in  the  United  States 
among  Home  Mission  Boards.  It  is  equally  impossible 
to  calculate  the  number  of  people  that  should  be  assigned 
to  each  denomination  as  its  definite  share  of  winning 
America.  Such  a  suggestion  is  the  well-meant  thought  of 
the  superficial  and  visionary,  or  else  a  disguised  attack  on 
the  legitimate  denominational  zeal  of  each  branch  of  the 
Church.  No  individual,  it  matters  not  what  his  reputation 
for  piety,  nor  all  the  combined  wisdom  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sions Council,  can  justify,  much  less  authorize  any  limita- 
tion of  individual  or  denominational  responsibility.  If 
there  were  only  one  unsaved  man  in  the  United  States,  he 
could  not  be  divided  or  assigned  to  any  body  of  Christian 
people  as  a  definite  responsibility.  Only  the  "Judge  of 
all  the  earth"  can  either  assign  or  limit  responsibility.  In 
reaching  the  unsaved  masses  of  America,  each  denomina- 
tion, while  recognizing  the  co-operation  and  respecting  the 
rights  of  all  others,  must  undertake  its  task  with  as  much 
zeal  as  if  the  whole  unsaved  masses  rested  upon  its  heart 
and  shoulders.  In  no  other  way  can  it  measure  up  to  its 
definite  responsibility  as  determined  by  the  Master,  rather 
than  assumed  by  itself  or  assigned  by  some  extraneous 
advisers,  even  though  actuated  by  the  noblest  intentions. 

Presbyterian  Obligation . 

Presbyterianism  must  meet  its  denominational  share  of 
the  responsibility  of  winning  our  country  for  Christ,  and  its 
Christian  obligation  of  ministering  to  human  need.  It 
must  inquire  of  the  Master  himself  the  extent  of  obliga- 
tion, and  not  of  Synods  and  Councils  whose  liability  to  err 
is  confessed  in  their  constitution.  There  is  never  any  need, 
however,  to  limit  responsibility.  It  is  not  even  remotely 
probable  that  an  individual  or  denomination  will  exceed 


18  The  Task  That  Challenges 

its  obligation,  if  measured  by  the  cross  of  Christ  and  the 
expectation  of  the  Master  himself.  Among  the  millions 
of  the  unsaved  in  the  United  States,  there  are  perhaps 
25,000,000  to  be  taught  in  Sunday  school  and  trained  for 
Christ  and  the  Church;  9,000,000  Negroes  whose  ethical 
standards  must  be  elevated  above  mere  emotional  nominal 
Christianity;  3,000,000  mountaineers  to  be  reached  in 
their  isolation,  and  relieved  in  their  destitution;  15,000,000 
foreigners  among  us,  and  increasing  at  the  rate  of  1,000,000 
a  year,  to  be  assimilated  and  evangelized;  and  perhaps 
10,000,000  adults,  uncounted  in  any  of  these  classes,  with- 
out God,  without  Christ  and  without  hope,  "aliens  from 
the  Commonwealth  of  Israel  and  strangers  from  the 
covenants  of  promise." 


II. 

THE  EQUIPMENT  FOR  THE  TASK. 

Though  the  magnitude  of  the  unfinished  Home  Mission 
Task  looms  large,  it  does  not  warrant  the  paralyzing  sug- 
gestion of  pessimism.  If  the  eleven  disciples — without 
learning,  without  influence,  without  power,  without  means, 
did  not  stagger  at  the  great  commission  involving  world- 
wide conquest,  why  should  the  Christian  forces  of  America, 
backed  by  the  strength  of  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob,  yield 
to  discouragement?  Of  all  institutions,  the  Church  of 
God  should  be  the  most  optimistic.  Its  perpetuity  and 
ultimate  triumph  are  guaranteed  by  the  promise  of  its 
divine  Head,  "The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it."  For  its  task  of  conquest,  the  Church  can  command 
unlimited  resources. 

Material  Resources. 

According  to  figures  recently  made  public,  the  wealth 
of  the  United  States  has  doubled  during  the  past  sixteen 
years.  The  nation's  wealth,  as  announced  by  the  Census 
Bureau,  is  now  s$188,000,000,000.  About  $94,000,000,000 
has  been  acquired  since  1900.  The  following  are  given  as 
some  of  the  items  of  the  national  wealth:  Real  property 
and  improvements,  $110,000,000,000;  railroads  and  equip- 
ment, $16,000,000,000;  manufactured  products,  $15,000,- 
000,000;  furniture,  carriages  and  automobiles,  $8,000,000,- 
000;  live  stock,  $6,000,000,000;  street  railways,  $4,000,000,- 
000;  agricultural  products,  $5,000,000,000;  clothing  and 
personal  adornments,  $4,205,008,593.  New  York  is  the 
richest  state,  with  over  $25,000,000,000;  Illinois  and  Penn- 
sylvania are  close  rivals  for  second  place,  each  with  $15,- 
500,000,000.  The  important  fact  in  connection  with  these 
figures  is  that  the  wealth  increase  comes  largely  from  the 


20  The  Task  That  Challenges 

increase  in  the  value  of  land.  Land  is  now  cheapest  in 
the  Southern  States,  and  in  the  next  ten  or  fifteen  years, 
its  increase  in  the  South  will  be  greatest. 

The  national  wealth  is  twice  that  of  Great  Britain,  the 
richest  nation  of  the  globe,  next  to  the  United  States.  It 
is  about  equal  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ger- 
many, the  three  richest  countries  of  the  world.  It  is  groM'- 
ing  at  the  rate  of  nearly  ten  billions  each  year;  and  within 
a  few  decades,  at  the  present  rate,  will  exceed  that  of  the 
world  combined.  Surely,  "He  hath  not  dealt  so  with  any 
nation." 

Agricultural  Products. 

Recently  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  published  the 
statistics  of  our  farm  interests,  which  are  so  enormous  as 
to  paralyze  comprehension,  reaching  in  round  numbers 
$8,000,000,000  annually,  being  four  times  the  value  of  the 
products  of  mines,  including  oil  and  precious  metals.  The 
gain  each  year  over  the  previous  in  farm  products  averages 
$300,000,000.  The  greatest  of  all  crops  is  corn,  now  ap- 
proaching $2,000,000,000  annually,  which  the  Secretary 
says  would  cancel  the  interest-bearing  debt  of  the  United 
States,  pay  for  the  Panama  Canal,  and  buy  fifty  battle- 
ships. Hay  and  cotton  contend  with  each  other  for  the 
second  place,  amounting  to  one  billion  each,  according  to 
the  fluctuating  price  of  the  product.  Sixty  billion  dollars 
of  increased  wealth  from  agriculture  alone  in  one  decade 
is  a  specimen  of  our  accumulating  riches. 

In  "The  Call  of  the  World,"  by  W.  E.  Doughty,  occurs 
this  striking  comparison  of  figures: 

"The  value  of  the  farm  products  in  the  United  States  in 
1909,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, was  $8,760,000,000.  The  farm  products  ha\'e  con- 
siderably more  than  doubled  in  ten  years,  equaling  in  value 
eighteen  times  the  world's  output  of  gold.  In  comment- 
ing on  these  figures,  a  writer  in  the  Literary  Digest,  gives 


The  Equipment  for  the  Task  21 

the  following  concrete  illustration  of  what  they  mean: 
If  the  money  were  all  in  twenty-dollar  gold  pieces,  it  would 
make  a  pile  720  miles  high,  and  if  the  gold  pieces  were  laid 
on  the  earth  touching  one  another,  the  value  of  the  farm 
products  of  that  one  year  would  make  a  line  of  twenty- 
dollar  gold  pieces  reaching  across  Alaska,  Canada,  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and 
there  would  then  be  enough  of  these  coins  left  to  make  a 
line  of  gold  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  and  some 
pieces  would  fall  off  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  before  they  were 
all  used." 

During  the  last  decade  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  we 
added  in  farms  an  area  in  extent  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
France  and  Germany.  Is  it  any  wonder  than  a  European 
tourist  who  sat  one  da>'  in  the  National  Capitol  at  Wash- 
ington listening  to  Congress  voting,  without  debate,  every 
few  minutes  during  the  day,  appropriations  by  the  millions 
for  internal  improvements,  exclaimed:  "My  fathers! 
What  a  country!" 

Exports. 

The  growth  of  our  trade  with  trans-Atlantic  nations  is 
the  marvel  of  the  commercial  world,  and  it  is  destined  to 
grow  by  leaps  and  bounds  as  the  result  of  the  disastrous 
European  war.  For  the  twelve  months  ending  September 
1,  1915,  the  exports  of  the  United  States  amounted  to 
$3,035,033,250,  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor  being 
more  than  $1,000,000,000.  Imagination  itself  can  scarce- 
ly compute  the  enormous  increase  this  one  item  is  destined 
to  produce  in  our  national  wealth  during  the  coming  years. 

Natural  and  Strategic  Advantages. 

W.  E.  Doughty,  Educational  Secretary  of  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement,  asserts:  "The  six  great  naval  powers 
of  the  world,  in  the  order  of  their  strength,  are  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  the  United  States,  France,  Jaj^an  and 


22  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Russia.  The  coast  line  of  the  United  States  exceeds  the 
coast  Hnes  of  any  five  of  them  added  together.  It  is  sure- 
ly significant  that  God  has  given  America  control  of  so 
much  coast  line  on  both  oceans,  and  so  many  harbors  for 
commerce  and  as  distributing  centers  for  the  gospel.  The 
most  significant  thing  about  our  past  is  that  we  grew  out  of 
the  best  life  of  Europe  and  inherit  the  intellectual  and  moral 
fiber  of  the  Anglo-Saxon." 

Economic  Equipment. 

In  "The  Fortune  of  the  Republic,"  Dr.  Hillis  grows  elo- 
quent in  describing  the  natural  resources  of  our  marvelous 
country:  "Other  people  are  proud  of  their  country  and  its 
principal  river.  Englishmen  are  very  proud  of  their 
lovely  little  Thames.  The  Italians  are  also  proud  of  their 
little  yellow  Tiber,  which  could  be  dropped  into  the  yellow 
Missouri  without  making  a  splash  or  raising  the  'Big 
Muddy'  a  half-inch  in  flood  tide.  The  Seine  is  a  long 
stream,  that  is,  measured  by  a  Frenchman's  yardstick. 
But  we  have  a  river  named  the  Yukon,  that  would  stretch 
from  Hudson  Bay  on  the  north  to  New  Orleans  on  the 
south.  What  treasures  in  this  land  as  yet  undeveloped! 
Four-fifths  of  all  the  fresh  water  on  the  globe  are  in  our 
lake  system.  A  country  with  a  v'wqv  and  canal  system  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley  running  out  to  the  right  and  the 
left,  like  the  keel  and  the  ribs  of  a  ship,  turning  the  whole 
interior  into  a  system  of  canals  and  waterways  for  com- 
merce; wood  enough  to  house  the  world;  coal  enough  to 
warm  the  world ;  iron  enough  to  tool  the  world ;  wheat 
enough  to  feed  the  world;  cotton  enough  to  clothe  the 
world;  gold  and  siher  enough  to  finance  the  world."  Of 
this  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  Mr.  Gladstone  said: 
"It  will  be  the  home  of  many  a  Leeds  and  Manchester, 
many  a  Sheffield  and  Birmingham,  and  when  some  time 
has  passed,  will  clothe,  feed  and  supply  the  world." 

None  of  the  great  nations  of  Europe  has  harbors  suf- 


The  Equipment  for  the  Task  23 

ficient  for  its  business.  Russia,  the  largest  country  in 
the  world,  is  practically  shut  out  of  the  commercial  world 
by  its  isolation;  and  Germany,  the  most  powerful  single 
nation,  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  the  River  Elbe  and 
the  Kiel  Canal  for  an  outlet  to  the  sea,  which  well-nigh 
paralyzes  its  commerce.  The  United  States  has  the  most 
magnificent  harbors  in  the  world — looking  east,  west  and 
south.  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  sa>'s  the  Mississippi 
River  and  branches  affords  35,000  miles  of  navigable 
waterway.  All  Europe  has  but  half  the  mileage  of  this 
one  river.  No  wonder  Napoleon  Bonaparte  said,  "The 
nation  which  controls  the  Mississippi  Valley  will  be  the 
most  powerful  nation  on  earth."  The  other  combined 
navigable  streams  of  the  United  States  doubtless  exceed 
the  Mississippi  in  extent. 

The  railroad  mileage  of  the  United  States  is  seven  times 
that  of  any  other  country  on  the  globe;  and  the  time  is  fast 
approaching,  perhaps  in  the  next  decade,  when  it  will 
possess  one-half  of  the  railroads  of  the  earth. 

Undeveloped  Resources. 

Only  a  passing  reference  can  be  made  to  mineral  wealth 
practicalh-  untouched,  and  yet  the  United  States  furnishes 
the  world  two-thirds  of  its  petroleum  and  copper,  and 
three-fourths  of  its  coal;  while  its  gold  mines  are  richer 
than  an\'  in  the  world,  cxcejjt  those  of  South  Africa. 

Statistics  for  the  South. 

Turning  our  attention  exclusively  southward,  is  it  any 
wonder  that  Richard  H.  Edmunds,  Editor  of  the  Manu- 
facturers' Record,  Baltimore,  Md.,  declared  recently: 
"We  must  learn  to  think  in  billions  rather  than  millions, 
if  we  would  so  broaden  our  mental  horizon  as  to  be  able  to 
see  with  some  degree  of  clearness  the  possibilities  of  material 
development  in  the  South." 


24  The  Task  That  CJiallenges 

As  justifying  this  statement,  consider  the  significance 
of  the  following  facts  and  figures  of  the  South : 

Capital  invested,  manufacturing $3, 397, 000, 000 

Annual  product  of  the  same 3,800,000.000 

Farm  lands  and  buildings 8.971 ,000.000 

Annual  cotton  crop 1,000,000.000 

Annual  grain  crop 1 ,000,000.000 

Other  farm  products 1 ,000,000.000 

Lumber  cut  and  sold 450 ,000 ,  000 

Mine  products 370,000,000 

Capital  invested  in  fisheries 13,000.000 

Products  of  the  same 20,000,000 

Total  annual  income 7,300,000,000 

National  bank  capital 236,853.850 

Individual  deposits 2,000,000,000 

The  SontJis  Wealth. 

Dr.  John  M.  Moore,  in  "The  South  To-day,"  furnishes 
this  estimate  of  the  increasing  wealth  of  the  South: 

"The  South's  wealth  is  not  far  from  $50,000,000,000, 
while  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  in  1880  was  only 
$43,642,000,000.  Between  1880  and  1912  the  estimated 
true  wealth  of  all  property  in  the  South  increased  from 
$9,177,000,000  to  $43,473,000,000,  or  378.8  per  cent.,  the 
increase  in  the  rest  of  the  country  being  317.6  per  cent. 
The  average  wealth  for  each  inhabitant  increased  in  these 
thirty-two  years  from  $493  to  $1,264  in  the  South,  and  that 
in  the  entire  country  from  $866  to  $1,965.  In  the  South, 
as  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  the  greatest  increase  in  the 
value  of  property  has  taken  place  since  1900,  but  the  rate 
of  increase  is  proportionately  greater  in  the  South.  In  the 
twenty  years  between  1880  and  1900  the  average  rate  of 
increase  in  the  rest  of  the  country  was  four  times  that  in 
the  South,  but  in  the  twelve  years  between  1900  and  1912 
the  ratio  was  only  three  to  one.  The  increase  in  the  true 
value  of  all  property  in  the  South  between  1900  and  1904 
was   from   $17,919,000,000   to  $21,519,000,000,   or  at   the 


Tlie  Equipment  for  tJie  Task  25 

average  rate  of  $2,466,000  a  da>'.  The  increase  between 
1904  and  1912  was  from  $21,519,000,000  to  $43,473,000,000 
or  at  the  average  rate  of  $7,518,000  a  day,  an  amount 
more  than  seven  times  the  daily  increase  in  England." 

.4   Striking  Comparison. 

In  "The  Home  Mission  Task,"  the  brilHant  editor  of  tiie 
Manufacturers'  Record  furnishes  these  significant  figures: 

"In  1860  the  assessed  value  of  property  in  the  Southern 
States  was  greater  by  nearly  $1,017,000,000  than  the 
assessed  value  of  property  in  the  Middle  and  New  England 
States  combined.  Between  1850  and  1860  the  value  of 
Southern  property  increased  over  $3,843,000,000  against 
an  increase  during  the  same  period  in  New  England  and 
the  Middle  States  of  $2,460,000,000.  Thus  in  that  period 
the  South  showed  a  gain  in  wealth  greater  by  $1,380,000,- 
000  than  the  united  gain  of  the  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States.  In  1860,  45  per  cent,  of  the  assessed  value 
of  the  property  in  the  United  States  was  in  the  South. 

"While  the  assessed  value  of  the  South's  property  ex- 
ceeded by  $1,017,000,000  the  assessed  value  of  property 
in  the  New  England  and  the  Middle  States  in  1860,  the 
change  in  the  decade  between  1860  and  1870  was  so  stu- 
pendous that  in  the  latter  year  the  assessed  value  of 
property  in  the  New  England  and  the  Middle  States  ex- 
ceeded that  of  the  South  by  $10,244,000,000.  Much  of 
this  enormous  advance  in  wealth  in  the  North  was  due  to 
the  industrial  era  w'hich  was  developing  during  that  period, 
stimulated  in  part  as  it  was  by  the  w^ar." 

Undeveloped,  Resources  of  the  South. 

The  increasing  wealth  of  the  South  justifies  the  predic- 
tion, freely  made  on  all  sides,  that  it  will,  beyond  all  ques- 
tion, be  the  richest  section  of  the  United  States,  considering 
that  its  vast  undeveloped  resources  as  yet  are  practically 
untouched.     President  Woodrow  Wilson  voiced   the  con- 


26  The  Task  That  Challenges 

sen.sus  of  opinion  on  this  subject:  "No  one  who  knows 
the  South  can  look  forward  to  her  future  without  the  most 
confident  expectation  of  an  extraordinary  development. 
The  character  of  her  people,  of  her  resources,  and  of  her 
cHmate  assure  a  development  which  will  be  one  of  the  most 
notable  features  of  the  growth  of  America  in  the  Twentieth 
Century.  The  past  thirty  years  will  be  but  an  imperfect 
indication  of  what  the  next  thirty  will  bring  forth." 

As  evidence,  a  few  illustrations  will  suffice:  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  France  and  Austria  combined  have 
17,000  square  miles  of  coal  area;  the  South  has  99,166 
square  miles  of  coal,  and  84,300  of  lignite.  If  Europe  had 
collected  every  ounce  of  gold  produced  in  1910,  it  would 
have  lacked  $122,700,000  of  paying  Europe's  cotton  bill 
to  the  South  that  year.  In  thirty  years  the  cotton  crops 
of  the  South  have  yielded  in  money  value  $15,000,000,000. 
All  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  world  mined  in  the  same  period 
yielded  but  $10,000,000,000.  The  South  still  furnishes 
three-fourths  of  the  world's  supply  of  cotton;  and  it  is 
an  asset  which  no  other  country-  can  take  away,  as  cotton 
requires  certain  peculiar  conditions  which  exist  nowhere 
else  in  the  world. 

While  there  arc  135,000,000  cotton  spindles  in  the  world, 
only  12,000,000  are  in  the  South,  and  the  latter  consume 
only  3,000,000  bales  of  its  cotton.  The  time  must  soon 
come  when  the  South  itself  will  require  for  its  own  mills 
the  present  crop,  and  it  will  necessitate  perhaps  20,000,000 
bales  to  supply  the  world. 

Space  forbids  detail  of  statistics  as  to  iron,  phosphates 
and  timber;  and  yet  these  alone,  if  the  South  possessed 
nothing  else,  would  constitute  an  untold  mine  of  wealth. 
The  South  has  water  power  enough  "to  run  every  wheel 
that  turns  on  rail  or  factory  in  America";  and  it  has  88,903 
miles  of  railroads  alone.     Ex  pede  Herculem. 

Prophecy  must  be  evoked  to  forecast  the  future  of  the 
South  when  the  Panama  Canal  is  in  full  operation.     More 


The  Equipment  for  the  Task  27 

than  fifty  years  ago  Commodore  Maury,  in  a  proj^hetic 
report  on  the  Isthmian  Canal,  said:  "When  the  Pacific 
and  Atlantic  are  united,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  will  center 
the  commerce  of  the  world."  Permit  but  this  suggestive 
hint:  For  five  thousand  miles  the  w-est  coast  of  South  Amer- 
ica is  washed  by  the  Pacific  Ocean.  That  entire  coast  is  in 
about  the  same  condition  that  the  Pacific  coast  of  North 
America  was  in  fifty  years  ago.  What  the  trans-conti- 
nental railroads  did  for  our  Pacific  coast,  the  Panama  Canal 
will  do  for  the  South  American  coast. 

The  public  press  announced  recently  that  South  America 
proposes  to  deliver  beef  in  this  country  by  way  of  the 
Panama  Canal  at  10c  a  pound.  When  the  great  cattle 
ranches  of  the  West  are  converted  into  farms,  possibl\- 
the  western  coast  of  South  America  will  pour  its  supplies 
through  the  Panama  Canal  into  Galveston,  New  Orleans 
and  Mobile;  and  Texas,  which  has  been  supplying  the 
United  States  and  Europe,  may  yet  get  its  meats  from 
South  America.  The  great  nitrate  beds  of  the  world  are 
in  Chili,  exactly  what  the  farms  of  the  South  need;  but 
distance  hitherto  has  made  it  prohibitive.  Hereafter  the 
farmer  will  be  able  to  secure  it  at  our  Gult  ports;  and  this 
vast  stream  of  commerce  will  pour  through  the  arteries 
of  the  South. 

Wealth,  a  Means  or  an  End. 

The  object  of  this  recital  of  the  vast  wealth  of  our 
favored  country  is  to  demonstrate  that  we  have  abundant 
material  resources  for  the  accomplishment  of  our  Home 
Mission  task  of  Christianizing  America.  Shall  we  conse- 
crate it  as  a  means  to  this  noble  purpose?  Or  shall  we 
selfishly  squander  it  on  ourselves,  in  the  gratification  of 
our  luxurious  tastes  and  pleasures?  W^ill  this  vast  wealth 
count  for  or  against  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  at  home  and  abroad? 

In  a  great  battle  for  supremacy,  the  terrible  guns  frowned 


28  The  Task  That  ChalUnujes 

upon  the  approaching  enemy,  who,  nothing  daunted, 
rushed  on  till  the  position  was  captured,  and  their  own  guns 
were  then  turned  against  the  fleeing  men  who  had  but  late- 
ly manned  them. 

If  our  vast  wealth  is  not  consecrated  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Kingdom,  it  will  react  on  us  and  demoralize 
and  destroy  both  us  and  our  posterity.  The  Carthagen- 
ians  could  not  destroy  Rome.  Neither  could  the  Goths 
and  Vandals  overthrow  its  liberties.  Rome  perished 
chiefly  through  the  corrupting  influences  of  its  great  wealth. 
The  powerful  Empire  of  Spain,  which  proudly  boasted 
that  the  sun  never  set  on  its  domains,  perished  not  by  its 
enemies,  but  through  the  enervating  influences  of  its 
luxurious  indulgences,  made  possible  by  riches.  Will  our 
people  lose  their  \irile  character  and  sink  in  the  scale  of 
civilization  through  similar  corrupting  influences  of  our 
enormous  wealth? 

Spiritual  Forces. 

No  material  resources,  however  limitless,  will  avail  un- 
less in  co-operation  with  even  more  powerful  spiritual 
forces.  It  is  "not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  Fortunately,  the  South 
possesses  a  rare  combination  of  spiritual  assets.  No- 
where on  earth  has  any  people  enjoyed  more  manifest h' 
"the  blessing  of  God  which  maketh  rich." 

The  genius  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  the  spirit  of  missionary 
propaganda.  No  section  of  earth  to-day  can  compete 
with  the  South  in  the  purity  of  its  Anglo-Saxon  heritage 
and  blood,  not  e\en  Great  Britain  itself.  This  is  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  immigration,  which  has  mingled 
a  cosmopolitan  strain  in  the  blood  of  the  North  and  West, 
has  not  yet  turned  southward  in  great  numbers,  is  con- 
fined exclusively  to  our  largest  cities,  and  is  halted  by  the 
l)arriers  of  our  Appalachian  Mountains. 

The  South  also  occupies  a  unique  place  in  the  religious 


The  Equipment  for  the  Task  29 

life  of  the  nation.  It  is  the  unassailable  stronghold  of 
Protestantism,  as  official  figures  abundantly  demonstrate. 
The  last  religious  census  published  by  the  United  States 
shows  that  the  largest  percentage  of  church  membership 
is  in  the  South;  South  Carolina  leading  with  45  per  cent,  of 
its  population  in  Protestant  churches,  while  only  one  and 
one-half  per  cent,  is  Roman  Catholic.  Georgia  is  a  close 
second  with  42  per  cent.  Protestant;  North  Carolina  has 
39  per  cent.;  Alalmma,  38  per  cent.;  and  Mississippi,  37 
per  cent.  In  striking  contrast.  New  Jersey  has  only  19 
per  cent.  Protestant  and  the  same  per  cent.  Roman  Catho- 
lic. New  York  has  15  per  cent.  Protestant  and  double 
that  per  cent.  Roman  Catholic;  Vermont,  18  per  cent. 
Protestant;  New  Hampshire,  14  per  cent.,  and  Massachu- 
setts, 13  per  cent. 

The  presence  of  the  Negro  in  the  South  may  be  regarded 
as  an  obstacle  to  progress  in  some  directions,  but  he  is  by 
no  means  an  unmitigated  evil.  Possibly  he  is  a  blessing 
in  disguise,  an  obstacle  to  unlimited  and  promiscuous 
immigration,  a  safeguard  to  the  purity  of  our  Anglo-Saxon 
blood,  and  a  protection  against  the  aggression  of  Roman 
Catholic  ecclesiasticism  and  political  machinations. 

The  South  is  waging  apparently  the  only  winning  fight 
for  prohibition ;  for  while  Maine,  its  home,  is  trembling 
in  the  balance,  nearly  all  the  Southern  States  are  driving 
out  liquor  by  legal  enactment.  In  the  South  99  per  cent, 
of  the  people  still  believe  in  the  Bible  and  are  undisturbed 
by  rationalism  and  the  destructive  criticism.  They  be- 
lieve as  firmly  in  the  Virgin  birth  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
as  historic  events,  as  in  the  discovery  of  America  or  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  If  the  old-time  religion 
holds  sway  anywhere  on  earth,  it  is  in  the  South,  where 
the  Christian  Sabbath  is  almost  universally  respected,  and 
the  family  altar  has  not  altogether  fallen  into  decay. 


30  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  Supreme  Need. 

Not  on  the  material,  but  on  the  spiritual  should  emphasis 
be  laid.  Bigness  is  not  greatness.  Political  economists 
are  striving  to  increase  our  national  wealth.  Statesmen 
are  seeking  to  enlarge  our  "sj^here  of  influence"  in  its 
international  reach.  Home  Missions  outlines  for  itself 
the  task  of  creating  a  type  of  character  which  will  eventu- 
ate in  that  "righteousness"  which  "exalteth  a  nation" — 
moral  greatness  and  spiritual  power. 

"This  is  a  great  country,"  said  Bishop  C.  K.  Nelson, 
"but  its  greatness  consists  not  in  its  great  population, 
highest  mountains,  richest  valleys  and  largest  rivers,  but 
in  the  character  and  quality  of  its  inhabitants.  China  is 
greater  in  the  number  of  its  people,  India  has  higher  moun- 
tains, and  Egypt  has  richer  plains."  Emerson  gave  utter- 
ance to  practically  the  same  thought:  "The  true  test  of 
civilization  is  not  the  census,  not  the  size  of  its  cities,  nor 
the  crops;  but  the  kind  of  men  the  country  turns  out." 
Perhaps  it  will  not  be  over-emphasizing  the  importance 
of  this  contention  to  quote  the  same  sentiment  from  Leroy 
Beaulieu:  "The  history  of  nations,  like  the  history  of  indi- 
viduals, proves  beyond  peradventure  that  no  economic 
strength,  no  material  prosperity,  is  lasting  unless  it  be 
sustained  by  real  moral  worth." 

The  industrial  awakening  and  material  development  of 
the  South  call  for  a  corresponding  spiritual  awakening. 
How  otherwise  shall  we  contend  with  the  spirit  of  com- 
mercialism threatening  to  engulf  the  whole  country? 
Tides  of  population  once  rolling  westward  will  soon  be 
turned  backward  and  sweep  like  an  avalanche  upon  the 
South,  attracted  hither  by  this  marvelous  prosperity.  It 
is  the  critical  time  with  the  South,  the  plastic  age,  when  we 
are  about  to  shape  our  destiny  for  all  time.  The  South 
has  stood  the  trial  of  adversity.  Will  she  be  able  to  stand 
the    test    of    prosperity?     Possibly   we    may    be    indulged 


The  Equipment  for  the  Task  31 

in  this  questionable  boasting  of  our  wealth  and  resources; 
but  we  profoundly  realize  our  need  of  something  far  better 
than  these  earthly  and  material  things.  The  asset  we 
crave  now,  above  all  things  else,  is  manhood,  a  people 
worthy  of  our  noble  heritage  of  the  past,  and  equal  to  the 
great  responsibilities  of  the  future;  and  the  gathering  and 
training  of  such  a  people  for  Christ  are  the  worthy-  aim  and 
supreme  purpose  of  Home  Missions. 

"Not  gold,  but  only  man  can  make 
A  people  great  and  strong; 
Men  who  for  truth  and  honor's  sake 

Stand  fast  and  suffer  long. 
Brave  men  who  work  while  others  sleep, 

Who  dare  while  others  fly — 
They  build  a  nation's  pillars  deep 
And  lift  them  to  the  sky." 

The  Assurance  of  Success. 

"All  power  in  heaven  and  earth  is  given  unto  me,"  and 
"Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
"If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us."  He  can  make 
"the  stars  in  their  courses  fight"  against  the  forces  of  evil. 
"He  holdeth  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  his  hands."  The 
gold  and  silver  of  earth  are  His,  and  "the  cattle  upon  a 
thousand  hills."  Unlimited  resources  are  at  the  command 
of  our  faith,  bringing  within  the  range  of  possibility  any 
task,  however  gigantic.  Let  the  difficulties  magnify 
themselves  a  hundred  fold;  let  the  enemies  of  truth  and 
righteousness  combine  against  the  Lord  and  His  anointed; 
let  Satan  rally  his  hosts  in  one  gigantic  campaign  of  evil; 
the  issue  is  never  in  doubt  for  one  moment. 

"Thrice  blest  is  he  to  whom  is  given 
The  instinct  that  can  tell 
That  God  is  on  the  field,  when  He 
Is  most  invisible. 

"For  right  is  right,  since  God  is  God; 
And  right  the  day  must  win; 
To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin!" 


III. 

THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS. 

The  history  of  the  Church  is  a  history  of  Missions. 
The  ratio  of  its  progress  is  measured  by  the  degree  of  its 
activity.  The  dechne  of  the  missionary  spirit  manifests 
itself  in  stagnation  and  marks  the  beginning  of  a  retro- 
grade movement. 

The  missionary  spirit  and  aim  are  essentially  one,  whether 
manifested  in  ministering  to  human  need  "at  our  own  door" 
or  whether  reaching  in  its  labor  of  lo\e  "unto  the  utter- 
most part  of  the  earth."  The  difference  is  chiefly  one  of 
geography  and  of  administration.  There  is  no  essential 
difference  in  the  work.  The  need  of  a  lost  soul  is  the  same 
anywhere  on  the  globe;  but  there  may  be  a  great  difference 
in  privileges  and  opportunities  by  reason  of  differing  en- 
vironments. 

Various  Agencies. 

In  the  organization  of  the  Home  Mission  Work  of  the 
Church  there  are  different  agencies,  and  a  corresponding 
division  of  responsibility.  It  is  important,  therefore, 
that  the  sphere  of  each  should  be  defined  and  clearly  ap- 
prehended. 

The  local  church  ministers  to  the  peculiar  need  of  its 
own  community  by  establishing  and  conducting  one  or 
more  missions  within  its  bounds  or  in  contiguous  territory. 
This  is  distinctively  Congregational  Home  Missions.  The 
Presbytery,  which  is  composed  of  a  number  of  churches 
within  a  certain  prescribed  territory,  ordinarily  through 
its  own  Home  Mission  Committee,  seeks  to  meet  the  re- 
ligious destitution  in  its  bounds  by  establishing  new  sta- 
tions or  organizing  new  churches,  and  such  work  is  known 
as  Preshyterial  Home  Missions.     The  Synod,  which  usually 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions  ^^ 

comprises  the  Prcsbylerics  in  a  iiarticular  slate,  some- 
times inaugurates  an  evangelistic  work  by  securing  the 
voluntar\-  co-operation  of  its  Presbyteries  for  mutual 
assistance,  though  not  all  of  the  Synods  are  engaged  in  such 
organized  work;  but  when  undertaken  it  is  designated 
Synodical  Home  Missions. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  (Incor- 
porated) is  the  authorized  agency  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  represents  the  larger  united  work  of  every  Synod, 
ever\-  Presbytery,  and  e\ery  congregation.  Its  special 
mission  is  to  the  dependent  classes  and  newer  sections  of 
our  country,  a  work  which  cannot  be  fully  accomplished 
by  any  Presbytery  or  Synod,  acting  alone  and  separately, 
but  which  requires  the  co-operation  of  all  the  constituent 
parts  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  Executive  Committee 
is,  therefore,  the  channel  through  which  the  strength  of  the 
whole  Church  comes  to  the  aid  of  those  Presbyteries  or 
sections  which  are  unable  to  meet  their  own  need. 

Distinctive  Mission . 

The  Assembly's  Home  Missions  is  distinctive,  there- 
fore, in  that  it  is  the  whole  Church  at  work,  bringing  all  the 
Presbyteries  into  a  spirit  of  unity  and  harmony  through 
the  fellowship  of  a  common  service.  It  is  the  connecting 
link  between  the  various  branches  of  Local  Home  Missions 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Foreign  Missions  on  the  other. 
It  partakes  partly  of  the  character  of  Local  Home  Missions, 
in  that  it  assists  the  weaker  Presbyteries  in  their  inability 
to  meet  their  own  destitutions;  and  it  as  truly  partakes 
of  the  character  of  Foreign  Missions  in  its  ministrations 
to  the  foreigners  coming  to  us  in  ever-increasing  multi- 
tudes, thus  carrying  on  real  Foreign  Missions  at  home. 

Assembly's  Home   Missions  exists  for  a  threefold  pur- 
pose : 


34  The  Task  That  Challenges 

1.  Church  Extension. 

Just  as  Foreign  Missions  stands  for  the  vast  heathen 
world,  and  as  Presbyterial  Home  Missions  stands  for  each 
individual  section  with  its  peculiar  needs;  so  the  General 
Assembly's  Work  stands  for  the  regions  beyond  our  or- 
ganized bounds.  Its  first  object  being  the  extension  of 
the  Church  at  home,  and  its  purpose  the  expansion  of 
bounds,  principles  and  influence,  it  is  therefore  the  only 
provision  for  advancing  into  new  territory,  fulfilling  the 
scriptural  command,  "lengthen  thy  cords";  and  were  it 
not  for  Assembly's  Home  Missions,  there  would  be  no  ag- 
gressive m.ethod  of  occupying  our  whole  country  for  Christ. 

2.  Unity  of  the  Church. 

It  stands  for  the  essential  unity  of  the  Church,  enforcing 
the  obligations  of  the  strong  to  extend  helping  hands  to 
the  weak;  "and  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  mem- 
bers suffer  with  it."  If  every  section  were  equally  strong, 
there  would  be  no  occasion  or  opportunity  for  an  appeal  of 
the  weaker  to  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  strong. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  strength  of  the  Church  is  ver\- 
unequally  divided  in  the  various  Presbyteries  and  Synods. 
The  bond  of  brotherhood,  therefore,  requires  that  the  hand 
of  sympathy  be  extended  to  the  need)',  and  that  arms  of 
support  be  thrown  around  the  weak. 

J.     Unman  Need. 

Assembly's  Home  Missions  stands  for  spiritual  need  in  its 
most  wretched  form  and  in  its  largest  demands.  It 
responds  to  the  mute  appeal  of  the  Macedonian  cry  from 
the  submerged  tenth  in  our  overcrowded  cities,  the  stranded 
and  lost  in  our  darkest  mountain  ro\'es,  the  dependent 
and  often  despised  Negro,  the  ignorant  immigrants, 
"strangers  within  our  gates,"  and  the  multitudes  on  the 
frontier,  "scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd." 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions  35 

Home  Missions  as  a   World  Factor. 

In  its  ever-widening  scope,  it  cannot  confine  itself  to 
any  Presbytery,  Synod  or  Country.  The  Western  Sec- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  AlHance  in  1916  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing as  part  of  its  Home  Mission  report:  "It  is  becoming 
more  apparent  every  year  that  America  cannot  fulfil  its 
fore-ordained  mission  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  un- 
less the  evangelization  of  our  country  shall  be  carried  for- 
ward more  rapidly  and  sanely,  and  on  a  wider  and  a  wiser 
plan  than  has  marked  its  history  hitherto.  For  a  great 
nation  to  fail  to  fulfil  its  divinely  appointed  mission, 
and  when  confronted  by  such  unprecedented  opportuni- 
ties as  are  opening  before  the  Church,  would  be  a  calamity 
beyond  calculation."  In  its  immediate  and  direct  pur- 
pose. Home  Missions  sets  for  itself  the  task  of  winning  the 
nation  for  Christ;  but  in  its  ultimate  end  it  is  neither  pro- 
vincial in  its  aim  nor  circumscribed  in  sweep.  It  answers 
to  a  two-fold  fulfilment  of  the  great  commission;  first,  in 
regarding  our  own  country  as  a  fundamental  part  of  "the 
world"  to  be  evangelized;  and,  second,  in  recognizing  a 
Christianized  America  as  an  essential  means  of  reaching 
with  the  gospel  the  other  peoples  of  the  world.  In  the 
fulfilment  of  its  comprehensive  task  it  co-operates  with 
other  denominations  in  making  "our  country  God's  coun- 
try," and  equally  with  Foreign  Mission  agencies  in  trying 
to  save  the  whole  world. 

Home  Missions — A   Flying  Goal. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Permanent  Committee  of  Syste- 
matic Beneficence,  as  the  Secretary  of  Home  Missions  was 
reading  his  report,  suddenly  Dr.  Robert  E.  Vinson  inter- 
rupted with  the  question:  "Dr.  Morris,  is  your  Home  Mis- 
sion Committee  able  to  accomplish  its  task?"  Instantly 
the  reply  was  returned:  "Home  Missions  is  a  flying  goal." 
Every  task  accomplished  and  every  ideal  attained  are  but 


36  The  Task  That  Challenges 

"stepping  stones  to  higher  tilings."  The  goal  reached  to- 
day A\as  a  laudable  aim  last  >'ear,  or  even  yesterday,  but 
the  moment  (he  goal  is  within  sight,  it  lifts  itself  higher  and 
leads  on  to  a  nobler  pursuit. 

The  application  of  this  principle  is  as  true  in  the  sphere 
of  Home  Missions  as  elsewhere.  The  revolving  years 
mean  more  to-da>'  than  ever  ]:)efore  in  the  world's  history. 
The  critical  rush  of  e\'ents,  the  increasing  speed  of  travel, 
the  impro\ed  facilities  for  knowing  the  facts  at  the  very 
moment  achievement  is  crystalizing  into  history,  the 
efficient  means  of  seizing  opportunities,  the  enlargement  of 
spheres  of  serxice  for  ministering  to  need,  these  present 
new  situations,  new  problems  and  new  liabilities  increasing 
constantly  in  geometrical  progression.  Only  ten  years 
ago  the  Church  had  but  a  contracted  vision  and  a  narrow 
horizon  of  its  ojiportunities  and  obligations.  The  \ision 
of  need  and  the  corresponding  growth  of  the  work  have  so 
expanded  the  horizon  of  Home  Mission  possibilities  as  to 
demonstrate  that  they  are  practically  limitless. 

It  becomes  exceedingly  difficult,  yet  supremely  import- 
ant, to  impress  the  Church  with  the  character  and  magni- 
tude of  the  work  now  conducted  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. In  its  scope  it  covers  departments  embraced  by 
five  separate  boards  in  some  other  denominations,  such  as 
the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  the  Board  of  Church  Erec- 
tion, the  Freedmen's  Board,  Evangelism,  and  the  \\'oman's 
Board  in  its  large  support  of  Mountain  Missions. 

All  Causes  in  One. 

In  its  broad  sphere  of  service,  its  operations  partake  of 
the  character  of  all  the  executive  agencies  of  our  own 
Church.  In  its  ministry  to  the  increasing  number  of 
foreigners  in  our  great  cities  and  mining  communities,  it 
does  as  purely  a  foreign  mission  work  as  can  i)e  carried 
on  in  any  heathen  country.  In  the  conduct  of  its  mission 
schools  for  mountaineers,   it  contributes  its  share  to  the 


Tlie  Scope  of  Home  Missions  M 

Christian  education  of  our  youth,  and  is  recruiting  in  these 
schools  the  ranks  of  the  ministry. 

In  the  organization  of  new  churches  which  call  for  more 
Sabbath  schools,  it  is  conducting  a  work  of  Sabbath  School 
Extension.  It  has  its  Theological  Seminary  for  colored 
ministers  and  its  orphanage  for  mountain  children. 

This  by  no  means  implies  that  there  is  in  any  sense  an 
overlapping  of  work,  but  the  multiform  activities  of  the 
Assembly's  Home  Missions  grow  out  of  the  necessities  of 
the  case.  Work  for  the  foreigners  among  us  can  be  under- 
taken only  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions; 
and  our  Mission  Schools  are  a  necessar\'  adjunct  to  our 
evangelistic  task. 

Historic  Development. 

In  expounding  the  scope  of  the  work,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  give  a  history  of  its  development,  now  enlarged  to 
such  proportions  as  to  necessitate  eight  departments,  and 
we  shall  consider  them  in  their  logical  as  well  as  natural 
order  of  time. 

I.     The  Department  of  the  Frontier. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  Twentieth  Century-  the  chief 
and  almost  the  sole  task  of  Home  Missions  was  pioneer 
work — following  the  trail  of  our  people  in  their  western 
migrations,  as  the  frontier  expanded  to  accommodate  these 
movements.  Now,  however,  the  frontier  is  a  relative 
term.  From  the  Atlantic  coast  it  graduall>-  stretched  it- 
self in  an  ever-widening  area,  far  out  towards  the  Pacific. 
It  is  difficult  to  think  of  it  at  present  except  as  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  The  economic  development  of  the  country- 
in  the  older  settlements.  Ijy  railroads  and  by  modern 
methods,  ha\'e  created  frontier  conditions  in  developing 
new  towns  and  leaving  other  sections  partially  depleted  of 
people  and  somewhat  destitute. 

Still,  however,  the  frontier  and  the  West  must  long  re- 


38  The  Task  That  Challenges 

main  synonymous  terms  by  reason  of  the  large  factor  of 
the  equation,  in  which  the  West  more  than  balances  all 
other  pioneer  possibilities.  Just  as  long  as  statistics  indi- 
cate that  one  million  new  inhabitants  cross  the  Mississippi 
annually  and  pour  themselves  into  the  Southwest,  so  long 
must  the  Church  follow  her  sons  and  daughters  to  their 
new  home,  as  she  cannot  afford,  for  her  own  sake  nor  for 
their  sake,  to  allow  her  migrating  children  to  drift  beyond 
her  reach  and  care. 

The  Western    Frontier. 

Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Oklahoma  and  Texas,  according 
to  an  estimate  based  on  the  last  census,  contain  over  10,- 
000,000  people,  which  is  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  South.  Leaving  out  of  calculation  the 
colored  people,  these  four  states  contain  nearly  one-half 
of  the  white  population  of  the  South.  Their  combined 
area  amounts  to  458,510  square  miles,  and  if  as  densely 
populated  as  Rhode  Island  would  contain  233,840,000;  or 
even  if  as  densely  populated  as  the  average  of  the  entire 
country,  would  contain  14,000,000. 

They  constitute  a  great  opening  for  the  expansion  of  the 
Church,  and  will  remain  for  some  time,  from  the  standpoint 
of  dividends,  the  best  field  for  the  investment  of  Home 
Mission  funds.  Other  sections  may  be  as  needy,  but  the 
West  makes  the  two-fold  appeal  of  need  and  of  oppor- 
tunity. Within  this  area  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S., 
has  a  membership  of  60,000,  which  about  equaled  the 
Synod  of  Virginia,  the  largest  in  the  Church,  before  it 
gave  of  its  membership  for  the  new  Synod  of  West  Virginia. 
If  the  membership  in  these  four  states  were  equally  dis- 
tributed, there  would  be  only  one  Presbyterian  to  each 
eight  square  miles.  Counting  the  membership  of  other 
Presbyterian  bodies  in  this  same  territory  as  almost  equal 
to  ours,  the  fact  remains  that  its  destitution  is  a  powerful 
Macedonian  cry  for  help. 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions  39 

There  is  often  acKantage  in  Disacl\'antage;  and  the 
opportunities  challenging  the  Church  render  the  efforts 
and  expenditures  of  Home  Missions  the  most  fruitful  in 
results.  The  n.one}'  expended  on  this  department  aver- 
ages scarceh'  a  dollar  for  each  communicant  in  that  sec- 
tion, and  yet  the  Church  is  growing  faster  there  than  any- 
where else  within  our  bounds.  From  the  place  of  the 
weakest  S^nod  in  the  (liurch,  Texas  now  contends  with 
Virginia  for  the  second  place  in  point  of  numbers,  and  with- 
in a  few  years  will  doubtless  pass  North  Carolina,  at 
present  the  largest  Synod.  Within  the  past  decade 
Mangum  Presbytery,  Oklahoma,  has  grown  from  un- 
occupied territory  to  an  aggressive  organization  of  twelve 
ministers,  twenty-four  churches,  and  1.300  communicants. 

In  this  western  section  there  is  at  work  a  missionary 
force  of  110  laborers,  occupying  400  churches  and  mission 
stations,  costing  annually  $50,000,  25  per  cent,  of  the  in- 
come furnished  by  the  Church  for  maintaining  Assembly's 
Home  Missions.  The  men  and  means  are  utterly  inade- 
quate to  the  need  or  to  the  opportunity.  Danger  lurks 
in  these  growing  centers  of  population.  If  not  speedily 
evangelized,  they  will  constitute  a  menace  to  the  whole 
country.  If  we  lose  the  West,  we  lose  the  United  States. 
The  issue  at  stake  is  tremendous.  If  the  West  fills  up 
until  it  has  no  more  unoccupied  lands,  what  will  be  the  con- 
sequence if  it  should  roll  back  upon  us  a  tide  of  ungodly 
people ! 

The  Neii'  Frontier. 

The  Department  of  The  Frontier  is  to-day  not  altogether 
a  matter  of  geography,  but  represents  certain  conditions 
and  environments — whether  in  Florida  or  Texas,  whether 
in  Georgia  or  Oklahoma,  whether  in  West  Virginia  or 
Arkansas.  The  changing  character  of  the  country,  like 
a  kaleidoscope,  reveals  new  combinations  and  scenes  which 


40  The  Task  That  Challenges 

so  fill  the  horizon  of  the  Church's  \ision  as  somewhat  to 
divert  attention  from  the  West. 

West  Virginia  may  be  used  as  a  specimen  of  the  New 
Frontier,  attracting  attention  in  the  East.  This  state, 
according  to  Dr.  D.  P.  McGeachy,  "presents  the  unusual 
combination  of  the  needs  of  the  isolated  community,  and 
the  opportunities  of  the  manufacturing  section.  The 
entire  state  is  mountainous  and  almost  all  of  it  is  rich  in 
mineral  deposits  and  hardwood  forests.  Owing  to  its 
location  and  its  nature.  West  Virginia  reproduces  with  in- 
finite variety  the  same  conditions  that  are  seen  in  'Pitts- 
burgh the  Polluted,'  and  in  'Breathitt  the  Bloody.'  Her 
problems  run  easily  from  those  of  commercialism  gone  mad 
to  those  of  secluded  stagnation.  The  oldest  and  the  newest 
are  mingled — the  North  and  the  South  have  coalesced — 
the  mountaineer  and  the  staring  immigrant  have  collided. 

"The  percentage  of  colored  people  is  almost  negligible 
and  there  are  no  Indians,  yet  72  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion is  out  of  an>'  church.  One  county  reports  97  per 
cent,  out  of  the  church,  and  it  is  claimed  that  nearly  80 
per  cent,  of  the  j^eople  in  one  of  the  Presb>teries  are  un- 
reached. The  density  of  population  is  very  great — over 
fifty-six  people  per  square  mile — and  of  this  number  over 
forty  persons  for  every  square  mile  in  the  State  arc  members 
of  no  church  at  all.  It  may  be  a  startling  statement,  but 
it  is  one  vouched  for  b\-  the  National  Geographic  Society, 
that  there  are  o\er  three  times  as  many  unsaved  people 
per  square  mile  in  West  Virginia  as  there  are  in  Africa, 
and  over  fi\e  times  as  many  as  there  are  per  square  mile 
in  South  America. 

"The  population  is  increasing  \"er>-  rapidh'.  Nearly 
fourteen  are  being  added  to  each  square  mile  of  West  Vir- 
ginia territory  each  ten  years,  a  number  not  equaled  by  an}' 
state  now  occupied  by  our  Church.  It  is  encouraging  to 
note  that  while  the  average  Protestant  church  in  West 
Virginia  has  increased  9  per  cent,   in   membership  in  ten 


TJw  Scope  of  IIoiHC  M 'Lesions  41 

>ears,  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  has  increased 
41  per  cent,  in  the  same  time.  The  average  minister  in 
this  Synod  reached  twenty-one  souls  last  )ear.  and  the 
Sunday-school  records  go  to  show  that  the  field  of  interested 
but  unreached  people  is  absoluteh-  unparalleled.  It  is 
little  wonder  that  under  conditions  like  these  West  Vir- 
ginia should  report  so  few  unfruitful  churches. 

"A  little  visit  from  a  faithful  Bible  teacher  a  year  or  so 
ago  led  in  one  case  to  an  incjuiry  for  a  minister  who  might 
preach  in  a  lumber  camp.  Two  months  ago  a  church  was 
organized  in  that  lumber  camp,  and  to-day  over  twenty 
men  are  found  in  that  congregation  who  take  public  part 
in  the  mid-week  prayer  meeting.  A  church  organized 
less  than  a  year  ago  in  a  thriving  village  has  now  nearly 
one  hundred  members  and  is  striving  faithfully  to  build. 
Only  one  other  church  is  found  in  this  settlement  of  1,500 
people.  No  accurate  count  has  as  yet  been  completed  of 
the  number  of  places  throughout  the  state  with  from  three 
to  five  hundred  population  that  have  no  religious  service 
at  all.  Scores  of  little  towns  are  springing  up  that  can  be 
reached  only  b\'  rail — hidden  away  in  the  mountains  and 
absoluteh'  without  religious  privilege.  Were  men  and 
means  at  hand,  a  dozen  workers  could  l)e  placed  to-day  in 
fields  that  are  white  indeed  unto  the  harvest.  This  is  the 
day  of  our  Church  in  West  \'irginia,  and  we  will  be  wise  if 
we  enter  while  we  are  called." 

2.     The  Department  of  Foreign-Speaking  People. 

During  the  Nineteenth  Century  the  church  aw(^ke  from 
her  indifference,  and  with  girded  loins  began  anew  her  un- 
finished task  of  sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen;  and, 
during  this  Twentieth  Century,  God  in  His  jirovidence  is 
sending  foreigners  in  ever-increasing  numbers  to  our  own 
door.  This  is  imparting  a  new  significance  to  the  (ireat 
Commission.  Beyond  the  seas  we  must  evangelize  the 
heathen  for  their  own  sake  and  for  Christ's  sake;  but   in 


42  The  Task  That  Challenges 

America  we  have  the  added  incenti\e  to  evangeHze  these 
strangers  within  our  gates  for  our  own  sake  and  for  our 
children's  sake,  or  else  they  will  paganize  our  country. 
The  fact  that  250,000  people  annually  return  whence 
they  came  furnishes  a  renewed  motixe  for  reaching  them 
with  the  gospel,  in  order  that  they  may  become  missionaries 
of  the  cross  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

The  foreign-born  population  of  the  United  States  is 
15,000,000,  one  in  every  seven,  approximately  equaling 
the  combined  population  of  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark 
and  Switzerland.  Adding  the  children  of  these  foreigners, 
though  born  in  America,  the  two  combined  will  compose 
one-third  of  our  population,  or  nearly  as  many  people  as 
are  contained  in  the  entire  South.  Notwithstanding  the 
contribution  of  1,000,000  new  inhabitants  to  our  country- 
by  the  other  nations  of  the  earth,  it  was  not  until  within 
recent  years  that  this  incoming  tide  turned  Southward. 
A  new  situation  now  confronts  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  demand  for  the  enlargement  of  our  opera- 
tions, by  adding  a  new  department  for  these  foreign- 
speaking  people,  was  sudden,  but  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee immediately  adjusted  itself  to  the  situation;  and 
missions  sprang  up  almost  spontaneously  in  the  xarious 
Synods. 

The  first  in  point  of  time,  and  the  most  prosperous,  is 
the  Texas- Mexican  Mission  among  the  500,000  Mexicans 
in  Texas.  F'rom  an  humble  origin,  it  has  grown  into  a 
^■igorous  Presbytery,  which  is  co-extensive  with  the  state 
of  Texas,  and  has  already  a  communicant  roll  of  1,200 
and  property  valued  at  $50,000. 

The  following  table  gives  a  summary  of  our  operations 
in  this  department: 


TJie  Scope  of  Home  Missions  43 

MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES  AMONCi  FOREIGNERS 


perty 
pment 

?•' 

-a 

^ 

>. 

o 

•- 

i-   3 

•t^ 

o 

"3 

".2 

'a 

0H   CT 

Annual 
Expenc 

03 

M 

C 

Mexican.  .  . 

17 

24 

1306 

21 

1284 

$  50,000 

$   7,000 

1892 

French .... 

4 

11 

380 

10 

565 

3,000 

2,000 

Hungarian . 

4 

12 

326 

3 

100 

3,000 

2,800 

1909 

Italian.  .  .  . 

16 

9 

275 

9 

350 

22,500 

7,200 

1908 

Cuban .... 

2 

1 

20 

2 

225 

2,000 

2,000 

1908 

Syrian 

2 

2 

2 

80 

600 

Chinese.  .  . 

1 

1 

1 

30 

Russian .  .  . 

1 

1 

23 

Bohemian 

1 

3 

70 

2 

50 

1,000 

1,000 

1910 

Indians.  .  .  . 

32 

21 

500 

13 

766 

20,000 

4,000 

1861 

80 

85 

2900 

63 

3450 

$101,500 

$26,600 

J.     Department  of  Mountain   Work. 

The  Appalachian  Range,  running  southwest  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Alabama,  covering  a  section  500  by  300  miles, 
cuts  through  the  heart  of  the  territory  of  our  Church  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  dividing  it  into  almost  equal  parts. 
Leaving  out  the  cities  and  larger  towns,  there  remain  about 
3,000,000  distinctively  mountain  people,  more  or  less 
destitute  of  gospel  privileges.  Descendants  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  Covenanters,  long  neglected  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  it  would  seem  that  they  are  in  a  peculiar  sense  our 
responsibility. 

For  destitution,  perhaps  our  country  furnishes  no  parallel 
equal  to  this  great  Appalachian  section.  It  is  a  problem 
of  isolation.  There  is  destitution  in  the  slums  of  the 
cities,  but  they  are  still  in  reach  of  gospel  privileges,  and 


44  The  Task  That  Challen(jes 

nuiltituclcs  of  them  have  heard  the  message  and  rejected 
the  Hght.  In  great  sections  of  the  mountains,  man\'  have 
heard  only  a  caricature  of  the  gcspel;  and  some  are  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  have  grown  to  manhood  even  without 
having  heard  a  gospel  sermon. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  feeble  efforts  at  "sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners"  had  been  put  forth  by  the 
various  Presbyteries  to  minister  to  this  destitution,  it  was 
Dr.  Edward  O.  Guerrant  who  really  discovered  the  moun- 
taineers, and  laid  the  foundation  for  permanent  and  syste- 
matic work  in  their  behalf.  Unaided  for  a  dozen  years,  he 
had  carried  lovingly  the  burden  which  required  for  its 
support  about  S14,000  a  year.  In  1911,  bringing  his 
missions  and  fifty  missionaries,  he  committed  them  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church  as  a  sacred  trust,  which  was  willingly 
accepted,  and  is  now  being  faithfully  executed.  The 
work,  howe\er,  has  grown  to  such  large  proportions  as  to 
require  now  nearly  $50,000  annuall>"  for  its  needs.  With- 
out his  wise  counsel,  sympathetic  support  and  tireless  toil 
when  this  responsibility  was  first  assumed,  the  Executive 
Committee  would  ha\e  been  utterly  unable  to  handle  the 
problem. 

To  unify  the  apjjeal  and  magnify  the  work,  it  became 
necessary  to  organize  this  mountain  section  into  a  separate 
Synod.  To  Dr.  Homer  McMillan  belongs  the  credit  of 
this  suggestion,  which  was  duh'  recognized  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  appointing  him  to  l)ear  its  greetings  to  the 
new  Synod  of  Appalachia. 

Without  a  dissenting  voice  and  with  marked  enthusiasm, 
the  General  Assembly  at  Newi)ort  News,  Va.,  in  May, 
1915,  created  the  Synod  of  Appalachia  out  of  Presbyteries 
and  parts  of  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  four  Synods  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 
The  Synod  met  and  completed  its  organization  November 
2,  1915,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Bristol,  Tenn., 
there  l)eing  102  representatives  present  at  its  first  session. 


Tlte  Scope  of  Ho)ne  Missions  45 

Xo  S\nod  e\er  began  its  career  witli  greater  enthusiasm 
and  brighter  prospects.  Re\ .  J.  W.  Tyler,  I).  D.,  was 
elected  Superintendent  of  Home  Missions,  and  Re\-. 
Frank  D.  Hunt,  Synodical  Evangelist. 

In  reaching  with  the  gospel  the  most  destitute  sections 
of  our  countr\  ,  in  furnishing  Christian  education  to  thou- 
sands of  young  people  who  could  never  in  any  other  way  get 
a  chance  to  rise  above  their  environment,  in  recruiting  the 
ranks  of  our  depleted  ministry,  and  in  laying  foundations 
for  the  future  of  our  Church  among  a  \irile  race  of  people, 
there  is  nothing  that  can  in  the  slightest  approach  the 
magnificent  work  being  done  in  our  Mountain  Missions. 

In  addition  to  schools  and  dormitories,  there  are  two 
hospitals  with  resident  physicians  and  trained  nurses  for 
these  mountain  people,  one  at  Guerrant,  Ky.,  in  connec- 
tion with  Highland  College,  and  the  other  at  Banner  Elk, 
N.  C,  in  connection  with  Lees  McRae  Institute.  These 
physicians  serve  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  who  carried 
in  one  hand  healing  for  the  bod\-  and  in  the  other  healing 
for  the  soul. 

4.     Department  of  Colored   Work. 

Of  the  ten  millions  of  colored  people  in  the  United  States, 
at  least  nine  million  \We  within  the  territory  embraced  in 
our  Assembly.  While  our  Church  has  always  expressed 
a  sympathetic  interest  in  the  welfare  of  these  dependent 
people,  we  are  compelled  to  admit  that  our  profession  ot 
interest  is  discounted  by  its  meagre  expression  in  prac- 
tical effort.  As  the  work,  carried  on  for  nearly  twenty 
years  under  an  Executive  Committee  of  Colored  Evan- 
gelization, failed  to  secure  the  substantial  support  of  the 
Church,  and  in  order  to  unif>-  the  Home  Mission  appeal, 
it  was  in  1911  transferred  to  the  jurisdiction'of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  and  made  a  special  department  of  Home 
Missions.     The  only  advantage,  so  far,  has  been  a  some- 


46  The  Task  That  Challenges 

whal  larger  appropriation  for  the  cause  and  a  better  recog- 
nition of  its  claims. 

The  colored  churches  grow  but  slowh-,  and  at  some  points 
the  work  is  rather  discouraging,  but  an  investigation  re- 
cently n^ade  shows  an  increase  of  6  per  cent,  on  profession 
of  faith,  which  is  equal  to  the  total  gross  average  of  the 
whole  Church.  During  one  year  235  have  been  received 
into  our  colored  churches.  The  total  enrollment  of  colored 
membership  in  our  70  churches  is  about  2,700. 

Stillman  Institute  at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  for  training  a 
colored  ministry  is  our  most  far-reaching  work,  as  its 
benefits  are  not  confined  to  our  own  denomination,  a 
majority  always  of  its  students  being  Methodists 
and  Baptists.  It  has  had  a  successful  year,  enjoying  the 
ministrations  of  the  Superintendent  and  two  other  pro- 
fessors. The  number  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  is 
on  the  increase,  which  is  an  encouraging  feature.  The 
students  contribute  to  their  own  support  b>'  working  so 
niany  hours  a  week  on  the  farm. 

At  the  close  of  the  term  in  June,  during  commence- 
ment week,  a  conference  of  all  colored  ministers  is  held, 
the  expenses  of  the  ministers  themselves  and  the  lecturers 
being  borne  by  the  Executive  Committee.  Such  gratifica- 
tion was  expressed  by  the  men  and  so  many  requests  were 
made  for  a  repetition,  that  this  conference  becomes  now 
a  permanent  feature. 

The  work  under  Rev.  John  Little  and  Rev.  Wm.  H. 
Sheppard  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  with  institutional  features, 
continues  to  prosper.  A  number  have  been  added  to  the 
church;  and  the  Sabbath  schools,  taught  by  white  teachers, 
have  reached  the  largest  enrollment  in  the  history  of  the 
Mission,  with  total  of  1,321  attending  its  clubs,  classes  and 
services  and  87  teachers.  Pla\-grounds  have  been  oper- 
ated for  the  children;  the  girls  are  taught  domestic  science, 
and  the  bo\s  trained  in  useful  arts  for  becoming  skilled 
workmen. 


TJie  Scope  of  Home  Missions  47 

Similar  work  on  a  smaller  scale  at  Richmond,  Va.,  has 
been  supported  by  the  Executive  Committee,  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Murray  Gray,  while  local  and  voluntary  work 
has  been  conducted  at  Atlanta,  Ga.;  at  Jacksonville,  Fla.; 
and  at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  Oxford,  Miss.,  Ruston,  La., 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  Decatur,  Ga.,  etc. 

A  forward  step  was  taken  b\-  the  Committee  in  appoint- 
ing Rev.  W.  A.  Young  evangelist  for  colored  people.  He 
has  devoted  now  two  years  to  this  important  office,  and  we 
believe  he  has  shown  himself  well  qualified  for  the  place, 
which  is  one  of  great  opportunity  for  serving  his  people. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1916  in  session  at  Orlando, 
Pla.,  organized  these  colored  ministers  and  churches  into 
a  Colored  Synod,  composed  of  four  Presbyteries,  33  min- 
isters, 70  churches,  and  2,700  communicants.  In  Presby- 
tery and  Synod  they  are  left  exclusively  to  themselves  for 
the  development  of  their  corporate  life  and  character,  un- 
trammeled  by  extraneous  influences,  but  they  will  be  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly  on  the  same  basis  as  any 
other  Presbytery,  and  the>'  will  be  a  constituent  part  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  Their  ministers  and 
churches  will  receive  the  same  financial  assistance  from 
the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  as  any  other 
needy  and  dependent  classes. 

5.     Department  of  Evangelism. 

The  evangelistic  purpose  necessarily  pervades  all  de- 
partments of  our  work,  but  second  to  nothing  in  import- 
ance is  our  specific  Evangelistic  Campaign.  It  is  co- 
extensive with  our  territory,  and  cannot  end  until  the  very 
last  man  is  reached.  For  some  years  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee has  consistently  engaged  in  an  effort  to  arouse  the 
spirit  of  evangelism  throughout  the  entire  Church,  urging 
Presbyteries  to  insist  upon  at  least  one  evangelistic 
meeting  each  year  in  every  church. 

Rev.   J.   E.   Thacker,    D.    D.,   was  secured   for  General 


48  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Evangelist,  and  for  seven  years  his  e\'angelistic  meetings 
have  resulted  not  simply  in  large  accessions  to  the  Church, 
hut  in  kindling  the  spirit  of  soul-winning  throughout  the 
Church.  The  last  Assembly  with  a  rising  vote  recognized 
the  value  of  his  work,  and  expressed  its  appreciation  of  his 
services  in  arousing  the  spirit  of  e\-angelism  in  the  Church. 

Rev.  Geo.  \A'.  Crabtree  was  elected  Prison  Evangelist, 
and  for  three  years  has  visited  prisons  and  convict  camps 
throughout  the  Ixnnids  of  the  Church,  carrying  the  Gospel 
message  to  thousands  of  these  unfortunate  and  criminal 
classes.  Dozens  ha\e  made  profession  of  faith,  and  we 
trust  many  have  been  led  to  Christ  and  have  entered  upon 
a  new  life.  Possessed  of  a  sympathetic  nature  and  a  love 
of  souls,  he  is  specialh'  ecjuipped  for  his  work;  and  yet 
what  is  one  man  able  to  accomplish  among  the  25,000 
prisoners  who  fill  our  jails  and  penitentiaries! 

For  se\'eral  \ears  the  Executi^•e  Committee  has  invited 
men  of  exangelistic  gifts  and  spirit  to  volunteer  for  special 
meetings;  and  the  Secretaries  of  Home  Missions  have  kept 
a  list  of  such  in  the  office,  and  acted  as  intermediary  in 
bringing  these  \'olunteers  to  the  attention  of  pastors  and 
churches  desiring  their  services  for  evangelistic  meetings. 
As  a  specimen,  the  recent  report  of  Rev.  J.  A.  Bryan,  one 
of  the  number,  indicates  that  he  held  in  twelve  months 
20  meetings,  and  received  289  into  the  church  on  profession 
of  faith  and  68  by  letter. 

As  the  outcome  of  this  Evangelistic  Campaign,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembh'  of  1914  authorized  the  election  of  a  Superin- 
tendent of  Evangelism,  and  Rev.  \\\  H.  Mile\',  D.  D.,  was 
called  to  this  office,  and  November  1,  1914,  entered  vigor- 
ously upon  his  labors.  His  work  consists  in  fostering  the 
evangelistic  spirit  by  correspondence  with  committees 
and  indi\iduals,  the  use  of  the  church  papers,  sending  out 
literature,  presenting  the  work  before  conferences,  church 
courts,  congregations  and  individuals,  and  holding  such 
services  as  time  will   permit.     He    has   thus   followed    the 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions  49 

policy  outlined  by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  has  en- 
deavored to  put  into  effect  the  program  adopted  by  the 
Assembly  of  1915  for  carrying  out  this  policy. 

The  number  of  Presbyteries  having  a  definite  evangelistic 
plan  has  increased  from  21  per  cent,  to  42  per  cent.  The 
number  of  churches  not  reporting  additions  has  in  two  years 
been  reduced  23  per  cent.  The  number  of  additions  on 
profession  of  faith  has  increased  from  16,149  in  1914  to 
21,804  in  1916,  or  35  per  cent. 

The  following  objectives  suggested  by  Dr.  Miley  have 
been  adopted  by  the  Assembh": 

1.  An  efficient  evangelistic  committee  and  an  evan- 
gelist in  every  Presbytery  and  Synod. 

2.  A  definite  aggressive  evangelistic  program  for  every 
Synod,  every  Presbytery  and  every  church. 

3.  Every  pastor  his  own  evangelist,  a  personal  worker, 
a  volunteer  evangelist. 

4.  Every  Christian  a  zealous  winner  of  souls. 

6.    Department  of  Sustentation . 

In  the  widest  signification  of  the  term,  the  Executive 
Committee  is  engaged  in  sustentation  work  within  40  of 
our  85  Presbyteries,  not  including  the  assistance  given  to 
colored  ministers  and  churches  where  they  belong  to  white 
Presbyteries.  If  individual  assistance  to  colored  min- 
isters in  white  Presbyteries,  and  aid  extended  to  particular 
churches  in  the  erection  of  their  houses  of  worship  should 
be  taken  into  account,  then  the  work  of  sustentation  by  the 
Executi\e  Committee  extends  to  more  than  half  the  Pres- 
byteries, and  to  every  Synod  in  the  Assembh*. 

In  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  sustentation  includes 
financial  support  by  the  Executive  Committee  in  supple- 
menting salaries  of  pastors  in  charge  of  weak  churches  or 
groups,  during  the  period  of  their  struggle  to  self-support. 
Even  then,  in  most  instances,  ever\-  dollar  so  gi\en  is  made 


50  Tlie  Task  That  Challenges 

to  do  double  dut>'.  At  the  same  time  it  sustains  the  weak 
and  growing  church,  it  also  constitutes  a  base  of  opera- 
tiors  reaching  out  in  an  evangelistic  effort  to  carry  still 
further  the  gospel  message  to  other  comir. unities  destitute 
of  the  means  of  grace. 

Every  dollar  spent  in  evangelistic  effort  perhaps  requires 
at  least  ten,  often  much  more,  to  maintain  and  make  it 
effective,  unless  beginnings  are  to  remain  fruitless  and 
foundations  worse  than  useless.  In  the  business  world 
no  thoughtful  builder  lays  foundations  only  to  let  material 
and  effort  go  to  waste.  "For  which  of  you  intending  to 
build  a  tower,  sitteth  not  down  first  and  counteth  the  cost, 
w'hether  he  hath  sufficient  to  finish  it,"  etc.  As  great  an 
Apostle  as  Paul  "may  plant,"  but  his  work  will  be  in  vain 
unless  som.e  Apollos  shall  "water."  "I  have  laid  the 
foundation  and  another  buildeth  thereon."  It  were  better 
not  to  organize  than  withdraw  assistance  a  moment  short 
of  self-support.  It  is  the  last  link  in  the  cable  that  con- 
nects two  continents,  and  but  for  that  last  link,  the  ten 
thousand  or  more  preceding  it  are  useless. 

Sustentation  may  not  be  so  spectacular,  nor  so  visible 
in  results,  as  the  telling  work  of  the  evangelist,  yet  the  men 
who  plod  quietly  week  after  week  are  forging  the  essential 
links  in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom.  If  superstructures 
had  crowned  all  the  foundations  our  Church  has  laid  in  the 
past,  we  would  doubtless  not  only  be  the  strongest  denomi- 
nation in  the  United  States,  but  the  Kingdom  would  be 
visibly  nearer  than  it  now  seems.  Evangelistic  and 
Sustentation  Departments  not  only  supplement  each  other 
and  overlap,  but  in  one  sense  are  inseparable.  Like  the 
seamless  robe  of  the  Master,  they  are  interwoven  through- 
out as  one  complete  indivisible  whole. 

As  the  parent  nurtures  and  supports  his  offspring  till 
the  child  is  al)le  to  care  for  itself,  so  the  Church  must  main- 
tain each  new  and  feeble  organization  until  it  in  turn  be- 
comes a  center  for  propagating  our  faith   into  still  more 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions  51 

remote  territory  of  the  regions  beyond.  There  are  weak 
Presbyteries  as  well  as  weak  churches;  and  the  Executive 
Committee,  like  a  fostering  parent,  places  its  arms  of  sup- 
port around  such  as  make  appeal  for  sustenation  funds. 

Frequenth  parents  who  nurture  children  grow  feeble 
themselves  b\-  reason  of  age  and  infirmity,  and  become  a 
loving  charge,  needing  the  support  of  the  child,  now  in  the 
vigor  and  strength  of  manhood.  So  there  are  noble 
churches  which  have  given  their  life  and  strength  to  others 
and  must,  like  age  leaning  on  a  staff,  receive  the  support  of 
the  children  to  whom  they  have  given  birth.  Especially 
is  this  true  of  the  country-  church  and  the  deserted  village. 
If  we  pension  the  aged  minister  for  past  services,  why 
should  not  we  recognize  our  obligations  to  the  aged  and 
feeble  churches,  which  have  exhausted  their  strength  in 
the  Master's  service.  The  whole  Church  should  recognize 
the  need,  and  contribute  liberally  to  these  two  classes: 
the  young  church  growing  to  manhood,  and  the  aged 
church  whose  resources  and  strength  are  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted. 

The  greatest  loss  sustained  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
has  been  through  its  inability  to  support  its  weak  and 
struggling  churches  in  the  critical  period  of  their  existence. 
In  some  instances,  through  lack  of  sustentation,  they  lan- 
guish or  die;  and  years  afterward,  when  a  new  opportunity 
comes  to  such  places,  the  work  must  be  done  over  again  on 
new  foundations  at  much  greater  cost,  and  valuable  ma- 
terial is  irretrievably  lost.  If  Presbyterianism  Could  re- 
cover such  lost  material  and  its  natural  increase,  it  would 
be  doubtless  by  far  the  strongest  denomination  in  this 
country. 

7.     Department  of  Church  Erection. 

The  erection  of  a  house  of  worship  is  the  first  problem, 
ordinarily,  which  the  pastor  who  is  installed  in  a  Home 
Mission  field  faces.     The  most  tragic  failures  in  the  past 


52  Tlie  Task  That  Challenges 

have  been  precipitated  by  inability  to  secure  a  church  home. 
In  many  instances  a  small  donation  from  the  Executive 
Committee,  at  the  critical  moment  in  the  history  of  the 
church,  has  been  the  turning  ])oint  in  the  tide  of  its  affairs 
which  led  on  to  success.  In  other  cases,  the  lack  of  an 
adequate  loan  to  build  a  house  of  worship  in  keeping  with 
its  environments,  dwarfed  the  growth  of  a  church  and  kept 
it  indefinitch-  on  the  list  of  dependent  churches  through 
needless  years.  The  donation  is  for  the  feeble  church; 
the  loan  is  for  the  stronger  church  which  has  a  prospect. 

The  man  who  stands  out  pre-eminently  wiser  than  his 
generation,  and  who  had  sufficient  grace  of  liberality  and 
faith  in  his  vision  to  make  the  venture,  was  W.  A.  Moore, 
of  Atlanta,  who  twenty-three  years  ago  left  a  legacy  of 
$5,000  to  assist  feeble  churches  in  building,  by  means  of 
a  loan.  As  the  result  of  his  work,  this  fund  has  built 
eighty  churches,  and  yet  increased  to  $6,000. 

This  suggested  the  advisability  of  accumulating  a  simi- 
lar fund  to  assist  feeble  churches  in  securing  manses  for 
their  ministers.  An  appeal  was  made  to  a  few  friends, 
which  secured  $4,200  for  the  purpose.  In  the  past  ten 
years  it  has  erected  thirty  manses  and  increased  to  $5,000. 
Generations  yet  unborn  will  doubtless  be  blessed  through 
the  instrumentality  of  this  beneficence. 

The  large  benefits  resulting  from  such  small  capital 
suggested  the  advisability  of  a  more  adequate  fund  for 
enlarged  operations.  Every  prominent  denomination  co- 
operating with  us  in  evangelizing  our  territory  has  splen- 
did endowments  for  building  churches.  This  led  Mont- 
gomery Presbytery,  five  years  ago,  to  overture  the  General 
Assembly  to  commemorate  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  separate  existence  of  our  Church  by  raising  a  sum  of 
$100,000  for  this  purpose.  The  responsibility  of  securing 
this  amount  was  entrusted  to  the  Executive  Committee 
and  a  vigorous  campaign  was  undertaken,  which,  however, 
has  been   interrupted   b}-  various  hindrances.     \\'hilc   not 


T]ie  Scope  of  Home  Missions  S3 

making  sensational  strides,  yet  substantial  and  steady  pro- 
gress is  the  result.  We  have  accumulated  in  cash  about 
$20,000,  most  of  which  has  already  been  loaned  to  churches. 
It  has  been  our  privilege  to  advise  interested  friends  in  the 
preparation  of  wills,  and  we  estimate  that  at  least  $20,000 
has  been  written  in  such  wills  in  favor  of  this  building  fund. 
If  we  add  the  $15,000  promised  by  other  friends  in  the 
form  of  gifts,  to  be  paid  as  soon  as  convenient,  we  estimate 
that  about  one-half  of  the  $100,000  is  now  provided. 

Of  the  total  amount  received  in  cash,  $11,000  is  in  the 
form  of  memorial  funds,  $4,500  having  been  furnished  dur- 
ing the  past  year  by  a  valued  friend  who  for  many  years 
has  been  a  staunch  supporter  of  our  work.  Any  one  con- 
tributing as  much  as  $500  can  establish  a  permanent  me- 
morial to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  some  beloved  relative 
or  friend ;  and  we  most  cordially  commend  this  plan  to  the 
consideration  of  generous  indi\iduals.  It  may  also  take 
the  form  of  annuities,  a  per  cent,  being  paid  the  donors 
during  their  natural  life. 

By  reason  of  its  limited  amount,  the  Moore  Fund  can 
render  aid  to  the  feeble  churches  only.  The  object  of  this 
greater  fund  is  to  aid  by  larger  loans  the  churches  which 
need,  but  otherwise  could  not  erect,  creditable  and  attrac- 
tive houses  of  worship. 

8.     Department  of  Mission  Schools. 

The  influence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  world, 
as  compared  with  other  denominations,  has  been  out  of  all 
proportion  to  its  membership  roll,  and  the  explanation  is 
due  to  its  consistent  polic}'  of  educating  a  trained  leader- 
ship, accomplished  largeh'  through  the  instrumentality 
of  its  Mission  Schools. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Tyler,  Superintendent  of  Mountain  Missions, 
states  in  his  report  for  1916: 

"The  General  Assembly  has  46  mountain  schools  and 
missions.     Wherever   possible   our    mission    churches   and 


54  The  Task  That  Challenges 

schools  are  turned  ON'er  to  Synodical  or  Presbyterial  con- 
trol and  support.  However,  there  are  18  of  our  smaller 
schools  and  4  larger  ones  entirely  dependent  upon  the  sup- 
port and  control  of  the  Assembly's  Committee.  This 
report,    therefore,    covers   only   these    22    mission    schools. 

"During  the  year  they  have  had  48  workers  for  all  of 
the  time,  and  22  for  part  of  the  time.  They  report  204 
professions  of  faith  and  40  additions  by  letter,  with  an  en- 
rollment of  2,382  in  the  Sunday-schools,  and  1,086  in  the 
day  schools.  Visits  made  during  the  year  by  workers, 
5,663;  religious  services  held,  2,631.  They  report  $1,- 
546.35  collected  and  spent  on  the  local  work;  $234.41  given 
to   benevolences." 

In  the  field  of  general  education  of  the  Negroes,  our 
Church  has  expended  little,  but  some  of  the  more  energetic 
colored  jjastors  have  developed  fine  parochial  schools,  as 
at  Texarkana,  Ark.,  Selma,  Ala.,  Montgomery,  Ala., 
Milton,  N.  C,  Thomasville,  Ga.,  Florence,  S.  C,  North 
Wilkesboro,  N.  C,  Abbeville,  S.  C,  and  others.  This  is 
a  fruitful  field  of  missionary  effort,  and  if  funds  were  avail- 
able, it  would  be  a  worthy  act  to  give  each  of  these  pastors 
an  assistant  for  teacher,  and  build  a  schoolhouse  hard  by 
the  church. 

For  many  years  we  have  been  carrying  on  Mission  Schools 
among  the  Indians;  but  the  coming  of  statehood,  with  the 
public  school  system,  has  relieved  us  of  the  necessity  for 
continuing  these  primary  schools. 

Cioodland  has  developed  into  an  Indian  orphanage,  as 
well  as  a  boarding  school.  The  Indians  themselves  have 
donated  nearly  100  acres  of  land  around  the  institution, 
and  the  Executive  Committee  has  erected  a  girls'  dormi- 
tory costing  $5,000  and  a  boys'  dormitory  costing  $2,500. 
There  are  perhaps  o\er  150  students  in  attendance,  most 
of  them  boarders. 

By  far  the  most  important  institution  of  a  missionary 
character  for  training  a  future  leadership  is  the  Oklahoma 


The  Scope  of  Home  Missions 


55 


Presbyterian  College  for  Women,  located  at  Durant, 
Okla..\vhich  occupies  a  magnificent  campus  o  thirty  acres, 
the  gift  of  friends,  costing  $27,000.  The  college  buddmg, 
cost  about  880,000,  and  the  entire  plant  is  easily  worth 

^"^'Tirnnmber  of  students  has  reached   138,  including  69 
Indians;  and  the  boarding  department  last  session  contamed 
88,  reaching  the  limit  of  its  full  capacity.     Each  year  from 
90  to  30  of  its  students  are  received  into  the  church,  and 
it    has    flourishing    missionary    societies.     Graduates    o 
the  college  are  teaching  in  various  schools,  and  its  moral 
^.r^  «niritual  influence  Is  felt  throughout  the  entire  south- 
er: section  of  the  state.     Men  of  --ns  are  continual  y 
seeking  an  investment  where  their  trust  funds  w...  >ield 
the  largest  spiritual  dividends.     Why  does  not  some  C  hns- 
tian  philanthropist  erect  a  memorial  building  in  connection 
with  this  splendid  institution,  which  will  double  the  t^s  - 
fulness  of  the  plant  and  perpetuate  not  simply  his  name,  but 
his  work  in  all  the  generations  to  come. 

The  Sin  of  Omission. 

In  concluding  this  brief  survey  of  the  scope  of  Home 
Missions,   it  will   not  be  inappropriate  to  emphasize  the 
necessity  of  avoiding  the  mistakes  of  the  past      Ihe  neg- 
lect of  Home  Missions  is  well-nigh    universally  adniitted, 
and    lamented    as    the    costliest    mistake    of    the    Churcii^ 
No  other  charge  is  brought  against  our  Church  except  the 
sin  of  omission;  but  that  is  not  a  slight  charge.     I     was 
for  the  sin  of  omission  that  the  barren  fig  tree  withered 
beneath  the  curse  of  the  Master.     It  was  not  because  it 
brought  forth  wild  fruit  or  evil  fruit,  but  withered  under 
condemnation  because  it  brought  forth  no  fruit.       t  was 
for  the  sin  of  omission  that  the  unprofitable  servant  wen 
out   into  outer  darkness.     There  was   no   charge   against 
him  of  squandering  his  Lord's  money,  or  even  of  wasting 
it      He  returned  it  carefully  wrapped  in  a  napkin,  without 


56  The  Task  Tluii  Challenges 

a  penny  missing;  but  himself  went  out  into  outer  darkness 
for  the  sin  of  omission. 

It  will  be  for  the  sin  of  omission  that  the  vast  mullilude 
will  stand  upon  the  left  hand  at  the  last  day,  to  whom  the 
Judge  will  say:  "Depart,  ye  cursed."  There  will  be  no 
charge  laid  against  them  of  specific  crimes  and  dark  deeds; 
but  simply,  "I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat; 
I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink;  I  was  a  stranger, 
and  ye  took  me  not  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not; 
sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not."  Every  charge 
against  them  is  a  sin  of  omission. 

It  was  due  to  the  sin  of  omission  that  Christianity  has 
been  practically  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth  in  the 
East — in  all  Bible  lands.  It  was  simply  the  neglect  of 
Arabia,  one  single  country,  bordering  upon  the  Holy 
Land;  and  largely  as  a  result  of  that  sin  of  omission, 
Mohammedanism  sprang  out  of  Arabia,  and  two  hundred 
million  people  to-day  obe\'  its  call  and  recognize  its  false 
prophet.  All  around  the  Mediterranean,  where  Chris- 
tianity had  its  earliest  and  grandest  triumphs,  Moham- 
medanism .has  now  made  Christianity  a  stranger  in  the 
land  of  its  birth.  It  was  the  sin  of  omission,  just  a  hundred 
years  ago,  when  the  descendants  of  the  "Covenanters" 
and  Scotch- Irish  landed  upon  this  Western  continent  and 
moved  backward  into  the  interior  and  lost  themselves  amid 
the  Alleghany  mountains.  The  neglect  of  the  Church, 
failing  to  follow  her  sons  and  daughters,  has  created  the 
unique  situation  of  three  million  mountaineers,  themselves 
"the  white  man's  burden,"  being  practically  without  the 
gospel,  so  far  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  concerned. 
It  was  the  sin  of  omission,  just  seventy-fiv^e  years  ago, 
the  neglect  of  a  small  movement  in  the  West  in  one  single 
section,  which  allowed  Mormonism  to  lay  its  l)lighting 
touch  upon  some  of  the  fairest  sections  of  our  country; 
and  that  counterfeit  of  Christianity  is  now  sending  its 
two  thousand  missionaries  into  every  nook  and  corner  of 


TJie  Scope  of  Home  Missions  57 

our  land,  with  its  spurious  gospel.  It  was  the  sin  of  omis- 
sion which,  forty  years  ago,  lost  our  Church  an  empire  in 
the  West.  The  failure  to  support  our  work  in  a  large  sec- 
tion of  the  country  compelled  us  to  retire,  until  now  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.,  has  but  few  churches  or  min- 
isters in  all  that  lost  empire,  which  ought  to  be  supporting 
a  dozen  missionaries  on  the  foreign  field. 

Now  we  face  our  grandest,  and  perhaps  our  last  oppor- 
tunity of  the  twentieth  century!  All  the  public  lands  have 
been  opened  up,  railroads  cross  the  country  in  all  direc- 
tions, towns  and  cities  are  springing  up  everywhere,  and 
the  populations  are  flowing  in  like  a  great  floodtide  into 
Oklahoma  and  Western  Texas.  Will  history  repeat  it- 
self? Will  the  Church  again  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  omis- 
sion; will  she  lose  her  last  opportunity.-'  If  so,  who  can 
foretell  the  results?  What  prophet  "hath  vision  so  keen 
and  strong"  as  to  forecast  the  future,  and  foretell  the  con- 
sequences of  such  neglect?  Will  the  Church  know  the 
day  of  her  opportunity? 

There  is  a  beautiful  poem,  which  begins  "Children  of 
yesterday,  heirs  of  tomorrow."  "Children  of  yesterday" 
— we  are  the  consequences  of  yesterday's  policy,  of  yester- 
day's principles,  of  yesterday's  deeds.  There  is  no  escap- 
ing the  consequences  of  yesterday!  "Heirs  of  tomorrow" 
— the  policy  and  deeds  of  to-day  will  forecast  our  future 
of  tomorrow.  Coleridge  has  expressed  the  same  thought 
in  a  single  line,  in  which  he  says,  "In  to-day,  walks  to- 
morrow." The  shadow  of  tomorrow  is  already  upon  us 
in  the  acts  of  to-day.  Paul  expressed  the  same  thought 
in  a  solemn  warning:  "Whatsoever  a  man  sow^eth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap."  It  is  just  as  true  of  a  Church  as  of  an 
individual.  If  our  policy  to-day  is  narrow,  selfish,  con- 
tracted, just  as  sure  as  the  sun  shines  tomorrow,  it  will 
shine  upon  a  narrow,  contracted,  circumscribed  Church. 
If  our  policy  to-day  is  broad,  liberal  and  expansive,  just 
as  sure  as  the  sun  shines  tomorrow,  it  will  shine  upon  a 


58  The  Task  That  Challenges 

broad,  ever-expanding  Church,  moving  onward  to  a  larger 
and  grander  destiny. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  said:  "The  army  that  remains  al- 
ways behind  its  fortifications  is  doomed."  It  is  ecjually 
true  of  a  Church.  Have  we  not  been  holding  the  fort  long 
enough  in  the  older  sections  of  our  country?  Is  it  not  time 
to  awake  and  advance  in  an  aggressive  movement  upon 
the  unoccupied  section,  expanding  with  the  resources  and 
according  to  the  needs  of  our  great  Southland.'^ 


IV. 

EVANGELISM  PASTORAL  AND  PERSONAL. 

The  (jreat  Commission  is  the  chief  Mission  of  the 
Church.  It  has  furnished  the  inspiration  of  the  past;  and 
the  future  promises  no  higher  aspiration.  The  obscurmg 
of  its  Mission  by  the  Church  itself  is  a  sufficient  expLana- 
tiort  of  relaxed  energy  and  consequent  failure.  The 
triumph  of  Christianity  has  ever  been  in  direct  ratio  to 
the  emphasis  which  has  been  placed  on  the  promulgation 
of  the  Gospel.  Human  substitutes  for  the  Gospel,  and  the 
modern  program  for  renovating  Society,  are  foredoomed 
to  ultimate  and  utter  failure.  The  world  will  never  be 
saved  by  any  means  other  than  Evangelism,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  of  a  crucified  Christ— esteemed  "the 
foolishness  of  preaching"  b>-  the  wisdom  of  this  world, 
whether  of  the  Greek  philosophy  and  Judaic  formalism 
of  Paul's  day,  or  of  modern  rationalism. 

Evangelism — Its  Relative  Importance. 

Other  things  may  be  important  and  many  can  be  made 
subservient,  but  Evangelism  is  \itally  fundamental, 
the  sine  qua  non  of  the  world's  salvation.  "The  good  is 
the  enemy  of  the  best"  has  passed  into  a  proverb.  In 
questions  of  methods  and  policy,  the  substitution  of  the 
"good"  for  the  "best"  produces  damage  according  to  the 
comparative  importance  of  the  matter  involved.  In  funda- 
mentals, the  blunder  is  fatal.  There  is  no  more  mis- 
chievous error  than  the  magnifying  of  important  truth  at 
the  expense,  or  to  the  exclusion,  of  fundamentals.  In  the 
natural  world  corn  ground  into  grist  and  made  into  bread 
is  nourishing  food.  Yet  if  one  element  be  extracted  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  rest,  it  becomes  a  violent  alcoholic  stimu- 
lant.    In   the   spiritual   realm,    the   same   deadly   error   is 


60  The  Task  That  Challenges 

possible;  and  it  is  therefore  vitally  important  to  see  things 
in  the  right  perspective,  and  in  their  proper  relations.  It 
becomes  almost  impossible,  therefore,  to  expound  the  prin- 
ciple of  Evangelism  and  avoid  the  discussion  of  related 
subjects. 

Social  Service — lis   Value. 

Christianity  undoubtedly  has  its  social  aspect;  and  the 
Gospel,  its  ethical  sanctions.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Twentieth  Century,  it  was  boldly  proclaimed  in  eminent 
ecclesiastical  circles  that  the  new  century  must  be  char- 
acterized by  an  ethical  revival  of  religion.  This  was  a  re- 
action against  a  type  of  evangelism,  predominant  in  the 
last  quarter  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  superficial  in 
character,  and  having  as  its  aim  the  ingathering  of  mere 
numbers,  w^hich  tended  to  lower  the  standard  of  Christian 
living.  If  this  ethical  awakening  had  confined  itself  with- 
in Scriptural  bounds,  it  would  no  doubt  have  served  the 
righteous  purpose  of  its  well-meaning  advocates.  The 
pendulum  has  swung,  however,  to  the  utmost  opposite 
extreme,  usurping  the  evangelistic  function;  and  it  is 
producing  evils  as  undesirable  as  those  it  sought  to  cure. 

It  has  ushered  in  the  age  of  indiscriminate  social  service. 
Men  are  giving  free  range  to  their  own  fancy  and  follow- 
ing the  dictates  of  human  reason  and  mere  sentiment, 
unrestrained  by  the  "infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice." 
Human  device  is  taking  the  place  of  divine  wisdom. 
Humanitarian  programs  are  exalted  above  the  inspired 
plan  of  redemption.  In  its  extreme  form.  Socialism  is  the 
humanitarian  gospel  of  the  sceptic.  In  its  modified 
form,  Social  Service  is  the  gospel  of  the  modern  reformer. 
In  its  Scriptural  aspect.  Social  Service  is  not  the  ante- 
cedent but  the  consequent  of  Christianity.  It  is  there- 
fore well  worth  while  to  weigh  its  claims  and  assign  it 
its  proper  function  in  the  gospel  scheme  of  redemption. 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  61 

Social  Service — Its  Place  and  Limitations. 

Confusion  of  thought  on  this  subject  may  result  in 
serious  damage  either  by  over-emphasizing  the  sphere  of 
Social  Service,  or  else  by  failing  to  recognize  its  scriptural 
function.  The  crux  of  the  whole  matter  is  largely  deter- 
mined by  the  viewpoint  of  its  advocates.  The  wrong 
emphasis  is  partly  due  to  the  mistake  of  grounding  it  in 
the  Old  Testament  economy  rather  than  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment dispensation.  It  had  larger  relative  importance 
under  the  Jewnsh  dispensation  because  at  that  time  Israel 
was  a  Theocracy,  there  being  no  distinction  between  Church 
and  State.  Under  the  Christian  dispensation,  there  is  a 
complete  separation  between  human  go\-ernments  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ ;  and  their  functions,  once  overlapping, 
are  now  absolutely  distinct.  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world."  "Render,  therefore,  unto  Caesar  the  things 
which  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's." 

Economic  and  social  questions  in  this  age  pertain  chiefly 
to  the  state.  The  Old  Testament  prophet  was  essentially 
a  moral  reformer.  The  New  Testament  apostle  is  em- 
phatically an  evangelist.  A  type  of  the  former  was  Moses 
or  Elijah;  the  spirit  of  the  latter  is  Christ.  The  distinctive 
feature  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  was  the  law, 
with  its  ethical  sanctions.  The  essential  feature  of  the 
New  Testament  dispensation  is  the  Gospel,  with  its  spiritual 
functions.  The  Old  Testament  deals  chiefly  with  the 
nation;  the  New  Testament,  almost  exclusiveh'  with  the 
individual  as  a  constituent  element  of  the  Kingdom. 

The  modern  program  of  Social  Service  sets  for  its  task 
the  curing  of  existing  evils,  with  its  ultimate  goal  the  re- 
formation of  society.  Evangelical  Christianity  empha- 
sizes the  guilt  of  sin  and  the  necessity  of  regeneration  as 
the  only  sovereign  remedy.  The  one  has  the  laudable 
aim  of  making  men  comfortable  in  this  life;  the  other  has 


62 


The  Task  That  Challenges 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICAN  CHRISTIANITY. 


POPULATION,    U.S., 
PROTESTANT  MEMBERSHIP.     CZI 
NON- PROTESTANT.  [Z33 

UNCHURCHED  POPULATION,  ■■ 


102,000,000 
2^,000,000 
I  5,000,000 
63.000,000 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  63 

as  its  chief  concern  the  salvation  of  the  soul  for  eternity, 
and  incidentally  the  rewards  of  righteousness  in  the  present 
life.  Social  Service  would  reform  the  drunkard  in  order 
to  convert  him.  Christianity  would  convert  him  in  order 
to  reform  him.  The  one  would  cut  down  the  weeds  of 
wickedness;  the  other  would  eradicate  the  roots.  Social 
Service  should  be  emphasized,  therefore,  not  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  Gospel,  or  substitute,  but  as  a  resultant. 

Ilhisiraiion. 

At  one  time  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
was  characterized  by  its  fervent  zeal  in  the  Moody  type 
of  lay  evangelism.  The  Sabbath  afternoon  service  was 
the  inevitable  gospel  meeting,  and  the  keynote  of  each  ad- 
dress was  personal  work  in  winning  souls.  At  the  present 
time  its  emphasis  seems  to  be  placed  upon  athletics,  games, 
entertainment,  reading  rooms,  baths  and  Bible  Classes. 
So  long  as  these  things  are  made  subservient  to  the  evan- 
gelistic mission  of  the  Church,  they  serve  a  useful  purpose. 
Recently,  however,  a  prominent  social  service  reformer, 
addressing  a  group  of  Home  Mission  Secretaries,  boldly 
announced  that  it  was  dishonest  to  "bait"  men  with  these 
material  things  in  order  to  secure  an  opportunity  to  make  a 
personal  offer  of  salvation;  and  he  advocated  Social  Ser- 
vice, not  as  a  means,  but  as  an  end  in  itself. 

The  Commission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
on  Soul  Winning,  through  its  Chairman,  Dr.  J.  D.  Rankin, 
sounds  an  additional  timely  note  of  warning  on  this  sub- 
ject: 

"Social  salvation  is  becoming  the  watchword  of  the  day 
The  banishment  of  disease  and  inhumanity,  the  purifica' 
tion  of  ci\'ic  life,  the  securing  of  economic  justice,  the  de" 
struction  of  the  saloon,  the  prevention  of  war — in  a  word' 
the  permeation  of  the  whole  social  order  with  the  spirit  of- 
Christian    brotherhood,    is    the    goal    toward    which    they 


64  The  Task  That  Challenges 

arc  moving.  They  will  succeed  only  as  lhe>'  follow  the 
program  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  useless  to  talk  to  men  about 
social  service,  the  missionary  program,  or  an>-  other  great 
movement  for  the  uplift  of  men  until  \()u  have  first  de- 
stroyed the  selfishness  of  the  human  heart  and  awakened 
in  them  the  love  for  fellow-men  which  is  the  result  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ  in  them.  *  *  '■'"  Religir:)n  has  always 
been  the  mightiest  impulse  bi'hincl  e\ery  movement  for 
the  uplift  of  men.  There  are  man>-  exceptions,  but  it  is 
indisputable  that  nunements  for  ci\  ic  betterment  receixe 
their  chief  support  from  church  people.  lndi\idual  re- 
generation must  precede  and  underlie  social  reformation 
and  missionary-  effort.  They  who  think  to  find  a  remed\- 
for  social  ills  in  some  law  or  scheme  of  go\ernment  ha\'e 
erred  b}-  the  whole  diameter  of  human  nature.  The  ut- 
most that  human  effort  can  do  is  to  reform  and  what  the 
world  needs  is  remnk'ni'^. 

"We  hear  nuich  about  institutional  churches.  The>' 
have  a  gymnasium,  a  kitchen,  a  sewing  school,  a  kinder- 
garten, an  employment  agency,  a  reading  room.  (iood. 
The  ])ity  is  they  were  so  late  in  coming,  but  the  greater 
pity  is  that  their  place  is  so  sadly  misunderstood.  Too 
many  regard  theiu  as  the  power  instead  of  the  machiner>-. 
The  tendency  is  to  get  the  kitchen  ahead  of  the  prater 
meeting,  the  gymnasium  before  the  Christian  Union,  and 
the  kindergarten  in  front  of  the  Sabbath  School.  Too 
often  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  the  indi\idual  is  iov- 
gotten  in  the  effort  to  improve  his  en\  ironment.  We  are 
trying  to  cure  the  diseases  of  the  world  !)>•  con\'entions, 
social  settlements,  and  neighborhood  houses.  We  art' 
using  printers'  ink  instead  of  prayer,  and  inxoking  the  en- 
gine instead  of  the  engineer.  We  are  trusting  in  might 
and  power  rather  than  in  the  IloK  Spirit." 


EvangcUsm— Pastoral  and  Personal  65 

Hnmaniiaria  nism. 

Unquestionably  the  trend  of  this  age  is  in  the  direction 
of  a  humanitarian  Gospel  as  distinct  from  the  evangelical. 
As  evidence  of  this  is  the  fact  that  more  money  and  effort 
in  proportion  are  being  expended  on  eleemosynary  institu- 
tions by  some  religious  bodies  than  in  direct  evangelistic 
effort.     Yet  the  inmates  of  these  institutions  are  numbered 
by  the  hundred,  while  the  unevangelized  in  the  same  area 
reach  into  hundreds  of  thousands.     No  Synod  or  Presby- 
tery is  expending  too  much  on  the  humanitarian  side;  but 
the  argument  is  from  the  less  to  the  greater,  the  a  fortiori 
niethod  being  a  favorite  of  Christ.     If  thousands  of  dollars 
are  expended  on  the  few,  and  on  their  temporal  needs  iii 
the  interests  of  a  common  humanity,  "how  much  more," 
to  use  the  Master's  phrase,  should  be  expended  upon  the 
great  masses  in  the  interest  of  their  eternal  salvation! 

Humanitarianism    appeals    even    to    the    unregenerate, 
utterly  regardless  of  the  Christian  motive.     Evangelism 
appeals  to  the  most  spiritual  element  in  the  number  of  the 
regenerate.        Humanitarianism    and    evangelical     Chris- 
tianity have  a  meeting  point  in  the  sphere  of  applied  Chris- 
tianitv.     They  seem  to  coincide  and  join  hands  in  good 
works  and  deeds  of  kindness;  and  yet  thev  are  poles  apart 
in  the  motive  that  prompts.     The  one  is  prompted  soleh" 
by  love  of  humanity;  the  other  is  actuated  both  by  lo\e 
of  our  neighbor  and  by  love  of  Christ,  "for  whosoever  shall 
give  you  a  cup  of  water  to  drink,  in  my  name,  because  ye 
belong  to  Christ,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall    not   lose 
his  reward."     It  matters  not  whether  it  is  by  the  indi- 
vidual Christian  or  by  the  Church  in  its  organized  capacity, 
the  principle  is  exactly  the  same.     The  judgment  test  is 
not  ethical,  but  evangelical.     Is  there  no  difference  be- 
tween the  barkeeper  who  contributes  to  the  temporal  re- 
lief of  the  family  of  his  victim,  and  the  Christian  who  min- 
isters to  the  same  in  the  name  and  spirit  of  Christ.^     W  ill 


66  T]te  Task  That  Challenges 

the  purely  humanitarian  acts  of  the  unregenerate  entitle 
them  to  the  commendation  of  the  Master:  "Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me"?  Is  there  no  difference  between 
the  unitarian  and  humanitarian  gospel  of  salvation  by 
works,  and  the  e^•angelical  gospel  of  salvation  by  grace? 

In  a  remarkably  clear  address,  now  published  in  tract 
form,  Harriet  Thompson  enforces  in  striking  terms  the 
distinction  between  Humanitarian  Betterment  Work  and 
Christian  service  for  suffering  humanity:  "The  natural 
human  spirit  which  we  inherit  from  Adam  has  in  it  two  dis- 
tinct elements — the  Morally-Good  and  the  Morally-Bad. 

"Humanitarianism,  of  which  humanitarian  betterment 
work  is  the  outward  expression,  is  earth-born.  Its  source 
is  in  the  Morally-Good  element  of  the  natural  human  heart. 
It  is  earthly  in  its  aim.  It  has  to  do  with  things  of  tem- 
poral value.  It  concerns  itself  with  food,  clothing,  environ- 
ment, recreation,  ventilation,  education,  legislation,  civiliza- 
tion— all  necessary  and  excellent  things  in  this  earth-life 
of  ours.  It  has  much  to  say  about  man's  relationships 
and  duties  to  his  fellow-men.  As  to  character  in  those 
whom  it  serves,  it  seeks  nothing  beyond  or  above  the 
Morally-Good  in  the  natural  human  heart.  Its  stream 
rises  no  higher  than  its  source. 

"Christianity,  of  which  Christian  service  is  the  out- 
come, is  heaven-born.  It  proceeds  from  the  heart  of  God. 
It  is  heavenly  in  its  aim.  It  has  to  do  with  eternal  values. 
Its  supreme  purpose  is  to  secure  everlasting  salvation  to 
all  who  can  be  induced  to  receive  it  through  the  preaching 
and  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God.  It  concerns  itself 
primarily  with  man's  relationship  and  duty  to  God — with 
the  Gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation;  with 
God's  truth  about  sin  and  Satan,  those  two  great  destroyers 
of  the  happiness,  temporal  and  eternal,  of  the  souls  of  men; 
with  the  power  of  the  Word  of  God  to  cleanse  from  sin  and 
protect  from  Satan. 


Evditfjclis)))— Pastoral  and  Personal  67 

"lis  Ix'ttcnnent  work  is  as  effectual  and  as  far-reaching 
as  the  humanitarian,  but  it  is  never  divorced  from  the 
truth  concernino  eternal  salvation  or  from  Christ  as 
Saviour." 

Illustrating  the  difference  between  the  two,  Miss  Thomp- 
son takes  "Hull  House  in  Chicago,  where  it  is  not  per- 
mitted that  the  name  of  Christ  be  mentioned,  as  an  ex- 
cellent example  of  humanitarian  betterment  work,"  with 
Jane  Addams,  its  leader,  as  taking  "high  rank  among  the 
naturally  noble  souled  women  of  all  the  earth";  while 
"the  Salvation  Army  affords  an  example  of  Christian  better- 
ment work"  where  the  e^•angelistic  note  is  never  divorced 
from  social  ser^•icc. 

"He  preMclied  of  science — an  attentive  thronji; 

Admiring  heard; 
The  nation's  weal — the  Hsteninji  muUitudo 

Api)roved  his  word; 
The  social  need — and  thousands  gave 

Assenting  nod; 
He  preached  the  Cross — and  men  wore  won 

From  sin  to  God." 


A   Revival  of  Evangelical  Revivals. 

This  discussion  is  l)y  no  means  apart  from  the  subject. 
In  \iew  of  the  undue  emphasis  on  the  humanitarian  ten- 
dency of  the  age,  there  must  be  a  new  and  corresponding 
emphasis  on  evangelism  as  the  chief  and  overmastering 
business  of  the  Church.  In  intent  it  has  a  two-fold  aim, 
the  salvation  of  the  individual  and  the  ultimate  extension 
of  the  Kingdom.  In  the  content  of  its  scope  it  involves 
primarily  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  men,  and  incidentally 
the  social  reformation  of  societ>\  In  extent  it  is  world- 
wide in  its  Mission.  "The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like 
unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  meas- 
ures of  meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened." 


68  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  human  evangel  attempts  its  goal  by  human  means 
calculated  to  cure  existing  evils.  The  divine  plan  applies 
the  remedy  to  sin,  as  the  root  of  evil.  New  emphasis 
must  therefore  be  placed  on  evangelical  themes  and  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  grace.  The  evangelism  needtd  to 
counteract  modern  thought  must  deal  in  no  uncertain 
terms  with  such  subjects  as  the  guilt  and  conviction  of 
sin,  the  soul's  lost  estate,  the  atonement,  regeneration, 
repentance,  holiness,  heaven  and  hell.  The  growing  in- 
difference to  personal  salvation,  the  claims  of  Christ  and 
the  church,  is  the  outcome  of  an  emasculated  gospel. 
The  watchmen  of  Zion  must  sound  an  alarm  that  will 
awaken  this  generation  to  the  momentous  issues  involving 
the  eternal  destiny  of  immortal  souls. 

The  Need  of  Evangelism. 

1.  The  need  is  as  old  as  sin — the  first  evangelistic 
message  was  spoken  in  Eden  by  God  Himself,  to  the  first 
lost  souls.  It  involved  all  the  essential  features  of  the 
gospel  of  every  dispensation,  Patriarchal,  Jewish,  and 
Christian — conviction  of  sin  and  the  promise  of  salvation. 
The  Son  of  God  honored  the  office  of  evangelist  by  conse- 
crating his  life  to  the  ministry.  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor — to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord." 

"  'Tis  not  a  cause  of  small  import 
The  pastor's  care  demands, 
liut  what  might  fill  an  angel's  heart, 
And  filled  a  Saviom-'s  hands." 

2.  The  need  is  world-wide.  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  The  Commis- 
sion has  lost  nothing  of  its  force.  After  nineteen  hundred 
years.  Philosophy,  Philanthropy,  Science,  Moral  Culture 
and  Education  have  alike  failed  to  lift  a  lost  world  out  of 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  6^) 

the  filth  of  sin.  The  Gospel  alone  has  pro\en  the  power  of 
God  unto  sahation.  It  is  effective  alike  for  the  untutored 
savage  and  the  profoundest  philosopher.  Their  need  is 
the  same  and  the  remedy  identical.  No  other  method  of 
bringing  this  spiritual  dynamic  to  bear  upon  a  lost  soul  has 
been  devised  than  Evangelism. 

3.  The  need  is  increasing  with  the  multiplying  popula- 
tions of  the  globe.  This  is  universally  accounted  the 
great  missionary  age  of  the  church.  Never  since  the 
apostolic  zeal  which  characterized  the  first  century  has 
the  church  been  so  conscious  of  her  mission  and  so  acti\e 
in  missionary  operations  as  in  this  Twentieth  Centur\-. 
The  fervor  of  ministerial  zeal  is  duplicated  by  the  La\- 
men's  Missionary  Movement.  Yet  the  Church  is  confessed- 
ly making  but  little  appreciative  impression  upon  the 
heathen  world.  Heathen  are  not  being  converted  as 
fast  as  they  are  being  born.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  heathen- 
ism is  gaining  on  Christianity.  The  statement  is  circu- 
lating in  missionary  periodicals  that  in  China,  for  example, 
Protestant  Mission  work  during  the  past  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  years,  and  Roman  Catholic  Missions  for  three 
hundred  and  sixty  years,  have  won  Chinese  converts  aggre- 
gating only  1,800,000;  yet  the  annual  increase  of  popula- 
tion in  that  country  is  1,900,000. 

Men  are  blinding  themselves  to  the  awful  fact,  and  at- 
tempting to  find  comfort  as  well  as  stimulate  new  mis- 
sionary effort,  by  false  comparisons  and  misleading  sta- 
tistics. The  population  of  the  earth  is  about  1,600,000,000. 
Only  500,000,000  are  classified  as  Christians;  and  to  make 
even  so  favorable  a  showing  requires  the  counting  of  the 
entire  population  of  Europe,  America,  Australia  and  the 
adherents  in  heathen  lands  as  Christians,  whether  Catholic 
or  Protestant,  Coptic  or  Armenian,  Christian  Science  or 
Mormon.  The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion is  the  slogan  of  the  Church;  but  if  this  worthy  goal  is 
reached,  it  will  be  by  a  church-wide  evangelistic  upheaval 


70  TJte  Tudk  That  Challenges 

which  will  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Church  in  its  greatest 
missionary  age  is  as  yet  onl\-  "playing  at  missions."  The 
need  is  so  appalling,  so  appealing,  so  compelling,  as  to  make 
invidious  comparisons  and  uncharitable  jealousies  between 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions  little  short  of  criminal. 

4.  The  need  is  personal  and  individualistic.  The  Great 
Commission  stresses  the  universality  twice.  "Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
The  task  cannot  be  accomplished  by  wholesale.  A  na- 
tion may  be  born  in  a  day;  but  it  will  be  as  individuals. 
Evangelism  is  strictly  a  personal,  equation — individual 
touch  with  individual  soul.  Statistics  of  church  member- 
ship are  often  misleading  and  obscure  the  task  by  concealing 
the  need.  It  is  perhaps  easier  for  the  "shepherd"  (pastor) 
to  find  the  lost  sheep  in  the  "wilderness"  of  the  world  than 
for  the  "woman"  (church)  to  recover  by  diligent  search 
the  lost  jewel  within  the  enclosure  of  her  own  "house." 
The  unregenerate  are  unsa^'ed,  whether  hidden  within  the 
church  or  lost  amid  the  world's  masses.  The  supreme  need 
is  the  evangelistic  spirit  of  the  Master,  that  shall  fill  the 
church  "like  a  mighty  rushing  wnnd,"  as  at  Pentecost, 
whereby  souls  singly  and  by  the  thousands  among  all 
nations  are  transformed  through  the  mighty  power  of  the 
Gospel. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Rankin,  Chairman  of  the  Commission  on  Soul 
Winning,  in  his  report  to  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
stresses  the  supreme  need  of  emphasising  the  personal 
element  in  salvation: 

"Your  Commission  is  asked  to  discuss  with  you  the 
regeneration  of  the  individual.  The  discussion  is  timely. 
In  recent  years  the  church  has  strangely  forgotten  this  part 
of  her  work,  and  is  now  awakening  to  her  mistake.  *  '''  "' 
It  is  asserted  on  what  seems  to  be  reliable  figures  that  not  a 
single  denomination  in  i\merica  is  taking  care  of  its  natural 
increase,  to  sa>'  nothing  of  those  beyond  its  borders.  Dr. 
Thomas   Dixon   said   a    few   years  ago  that  the  growth  of 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  71 

the  Protestant  churches  in  New  York  in  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  represented  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  birth 
rate  of  their  membership;  that  the  Baptists  had  not  only 
failed  to  gain  anything  on  the  outside,  but  had  lost  two- 
thirds  of  the  children  born  in  their  own  homes;  that  the 
Methodists  had  lost  one-half  of  their  children  and  the 
Presbyterians  one-third.  Dr.  Aked  said,  'I  am  sure  that 
Dr.  Dixon  is  right  about  this.'  There  are  fifty  thousand 
fewer  Protestant  church  members  in  New  York  than  there 
were  ten  3'ears  ago.  *  *  *  ^  fairer  view  may  be 
gained  from  a  wider  outlook.  In  1906  the  Congregational 
Church  reported  a  net  loss  in  its  Sabbath  schools,  and  a 
gain  in  church  membership  of  only  12,000 — 3,000  of  these 
came  from  other  denominations,  so  that  there  was  a  net 
gain  of  only  9,000  from  her  membership  of  700,000.  Esti- 
mating that  one  child  was  born  for  every  fourteen  of  the 
membership  this  would  make  a  net  loss  of  40,000  of  her 
own  children.  That  is,  they  received  into  the  church  less 
than  one-fifth  of  the  children  born  in  Congregational 
homes.  We  have  22,000,000  Protestant  church  members 
in  this  country.  Last  year  (1912)  we  made  a  net  gain  of 
450,000.  One  of  the  largest  denominations  had  a  net  gain 
of  only  one-half  of  one  per  cent.  The  combined  evangelical 
churches  had  a  net  gain  of  only  one  and  four-fifths  per  cent., 
while  the  population  of  the  United  States  increased  more 
than  two  per  cent. 

"\\'hat  is  the  meaning  of  these  figures?  Clearly,  that 
so  far  as  winning  souls  is  concerned  the  Church  is  not 
holding  her  own.  Some  explain  it  by  the  materialistic 
spirit  of  the  age.  Doubtless  this  is  a  strong  factor,  but 
the  age  is  not  more  materialistic  than  the  first  century 
when  the  gospel  swept  the  world.  The  secret  lies  deeper. 
It  is  the  Church's  failure  to  seek  the  spiritual  regeneration 
of  the  individual.  She  seems  to  have  forgotten  that  indi- 
vidual evangelism  was  the  base  of  Jesus'  work  and  must 
ever  continue  to  be  the  condition  of  the  Church's  growth." 


72  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  Testimony  of  Dr.  W.  E.  Beiderwolf. 

"  'Someone,  in  speaking  of  the  mission  and  influence  of 
the  Church  in  the  world,  has  said  that  while  we  can  take 
off  our  hats  to  the  past,  we  must  take  off  our  coats  to  the 
future.'  About  two  per  cent.,  and  possibly  a  little  more, 
this  last  year,  is  the  story  of  our  increase.  We  point  to  our 
magnificent  temples  of  worship  that  lift  their  spires  above 
the  city's  noise  and  strife,  and  to  the  cross-crowned  spires 
of  villages  and  country  roads;  we  number  with  pride  our 
renowned  preachers,  and  confess  to  an  intelligence  and  an 
equipment  in  the  Church  of  Christ  such  as  no  other  age 
has  ever  known.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  all  this 
may  be  true,  and  yet  the  Church  may  with  all  this  slowly 
change  into  a  sepulchre  of  death.  It  is  well  to  meet  in  our 
mammoth  conventions,  appoint  committees,  organize 
new  societies,  revise  our  creeds,  if  they  need  it,  and  con- 
gratulate ourselves  upon  our  increasing  influence  in  other 
ways,  but  we  must  not  blind  ourselves  to  the  plain,  blunt 
truth,  that  the  Church  can  do  all  this  and  yet,  if  it  does  not 
increase  numerically,  it  will  dwindle  and  die.  Chris- 
tianity has  never  yet  really  come  to  its  own  in  this  land, 
and  our  country  is  yet  awaiting  to  see  what  God  can  do 
when  the  Church  gives  to  the  sacred  and  divinely  ap- 
pointed office  of  evangelism  her  best  thought,  her  truest 
sympathy,  and  her  most  earnest  attention,  and  the  pastors 
and  the  evangelists  whom  the  Church  approves  become 
united  in  a  determined,  well-conceived,  untiring  effort  to 
win  the  people  of  this  land  for  Christ." 

An  Evangelistic  Campaign. 

Already  there  are  indications  of  a  gracious  awakening. 
Evangelistic  Committees  have  been  appointed  by  many 
Evangelical  Christian  bodies.  Evangelistic  policies  have 
been  outlined  and  programs  adopted.  In  our  own  com- 
munion, a  year  of  intercession  led  up  to  an  E\'angelistic 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  73 

Assembly,  at  which  time  the  largest  ingathering  in  our 
history  was  reported.  A  Superintendent  of  Evangelism 
has  been  elected  and  the  following  Evangelistic  Policy 
adopted : 

1.  The  Superintendent  of  Evangelism  elected  by  the 
Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  shall  be  a  man  of 
recognized  gifts  in  soul  winning,  himself  leading  the  field 
work  as  far  as  his  time  and  official  duties  will  permit. 

2.  Associated  with  him  shall  be  a  corps  of  evangelists 
elected  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions, 
the  number  being  determined  by  the  providence  of  God, 
the  Assembly  having  already  authorized  at  least  two  addi- 
tional men. 

3.  The  Superintendent  of  Evangelism,  with  the  advice 
and  assistance  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home 
Missions,  shall  direct  ihe  work,  arranging  as  far  as  possible 
the  details  of  appointments,  taking  such  part  in  the  con- 
duct of  meetings  as  is  consistent  with  his  other  responsi- 
bilities. 

4.  Synodical,  Presbyterial,  Local  and  other  Evangelistic 
Conferences  for  educating  and  stimulating  every  part  of 
the  Church  in  a  great  evangelistic  work,  shall  be  conducted 
by  the  Superintendent  himself,  as  far  as  possible,  by  his 
associates  under  his  direction,  and  by  such  accredited 
leaders  as  shall  be  secured  for  this  purpose. 

5.  A  ^■oluntary  force  of  pastors  with  special  evangelistic 
gifts  shall  be  secured  for  conducting  such  evangelistic 
ser^•ices  as  cannot  be  reached  b)-  the  general  evangelists 
secured  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

6.  The  Superintendent  shall  be  in  close  touch  with  the 
Executive  Committees  of  Synods  and  Presbyteries  for  the 
purpose  of  rendering  any  assistance  possible  in  the  way  of 
securing  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  evangelists  and  pro- 
moting evangelistic  work. 


74  The  Task  That  Challenges 

7.  As  far  as  possible,  the  Superintendent  and  associated 
Evangelists  shall  encourage  evangelistic  preaching  and 
services  by  the  pastors  themselves,  and  special  periods  in 
individual  churches  of  evangelistic  efforts,  in  which  the 
services  of  the  entire  membership  as  far  as  possible  shall  be 
enlisted. 

8.  The  details  of  the  work,  such  as  the  use  of  evan- 
gelistic literature,  visitation  of  schools  and  colleges,  etc., 
shall  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Evangelism  and  the  Sub-Committee  of  Evangelism. 

Pastoral  Evangelism. 

In  order  to  re-enforce  with  all  possible  emphasis  the 
necessity  and  value  of  an  earnest  evangelistic  ministr}', 
the  following  well  authenticated  experience  of  one  of  our 
pastors  is  recorded  to  induce  others  to  adopt  this  or  some 
similar  campaign  of  work.  While  perhaps  not  the  best  for 
all  soul  winners,  yet  it  may  be  suggestive  and  made  the 
basis  of  some  modified  plan  by  which  each  individual  may- 
work  out  for  himself  a  program  with  improved  evangelistic 
methods. 

I.     Evangelistic  Preaching. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  the  rule  was  adopted 
and  rigidly  practiced  during  its  entire  duration,  of  opening 
the  doors  of  the  church  at  the  close  of  every  preaching 
service,  and  extending  a  cordial  invitation  to  accept  Christ, 
or  else  to  confer  with  the  ambassador  for  Christ,  on  the 
subject  of  personal  salvation.  No  matter  what  the  sub- 
ject of  the  message,  the  preacher  kept  before  his  mind  the 
fact  that  he  faced  some  unconverted  souls,  which  imparted 
an  evangelistic  tone  to  the  service,  and  he  laid  the  responsi- 
bility upon  sinners  for  an  immediate  decision.  The  night 
service  was  almost  invariably  and  emphatically  evangelistic. 
It  impressed   the  audience  with   the   thought    that   "con- 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  75 

venient  seasons"  were  a  delusion,  and  that  "Now  is  (al- 
ways) the  accepted  time."  To  anticipate  conversions  at 
every  service,  both  exercised  the  preacher's  faith  in  his 
message  and  stimulated  his  efforts  to  secure  immediate 
results.  Often  his  faith  and  effort  were  weakened  by  some 
doubting  Thomas,  but  in  the  main  were  rewarded.  During 
one  year  which  memory  recalls,  not  a  Sabbath  passed  be- 
tween January  and  April  without  some  addition  to  the 
church.     The  pastor's  register  preserves  the  record. 

2.     Evangelistic  Meetings. 

Regularly  special  services  were  planned,  more  or  less 
frequent,  according  to  providential  indications;  but  no 
year  was  ever  allowed  to  pass  without  an  evangelistic 
meeting  in  each  church  served.  Ordinarily  diligent  effort 
was  made  to  secure  the  assistance  of  some  man  gifted  with 
the'  qualification  of  soul  winning,  but  if  providentially 
hindered  in  securing  him,  the  pastor  never  called  off  the 
meeting,  but  acted  on  the  theory  and  faith  that  in  such 
cases  God  had  called  him  to  act  the  part  of  evangelist 
himself  for  the  occasion. 

Once  during  his  pastorate  in  a  large  city,  at  the  Evan- 
gelical Ministers'  Association  on  Monday  morning,  a  reso- 
lution was  introduced,  and  after  prayerful  consideration, 
adopted,  requesting  every  pastor  at  the  approaching  Wed- 
nesday evening  prayer  service  to  begin  special  evangelistic 
services  in  a  simultaneous  city-wide  campaign.  It  contro- 
verted and  disproved  the  theory  that  simultaneous  meetings 
hinder  each  other.  With  scant  preparation  and  without 
assistance,  services  were  begun  immediately  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  conducted  by  the  pastor  for  three  weeks, 
and  there  was  a  relative  larger  number  of  additions  to  the 
membership  than  at  any  other  church  in  the  city.  Under 
the  inspiration  of  successful  soul  winning,  while  in  the  spirit 
of  importunate  and   intercessory  prayer,   sermons  spring 


76  The  Task  That  Challenges 

into  being  of  their  own  accord  and  God's  Spirit  is  con- 
sciously, almost  visibly,  felt  by  the  preacher,  which  power- 
fully moves  the  people. 

On  another  occasion  while  serving  a  group,  where  pro- 
fessional evangelistic  assistance  failed,  the  pastor  preached 
to  his  own  people  for  forty  days,  which  included  the  month 
of  August,  resting  only  each  Saturday  during  the  entire 
period,  and  was  physically  stronger  at  the  close  of  the 
services  than  at  the  beginning.  The  results  were  simply 
marvelous,  and  the  power  of  God  was  signally  manifest 
in  the  salvation  of  men. 

The  most  unique  experience  was  the  conducting  of  two 
simultaneous  meetings  nearly  ten  miles  apart.  A  visiting 
minister  assisted  the  pastor  in  town,  while  the  latter  rode 
ten  miles  in  the  country,  before  the  era  of  automobiles, 
preached  twice  each  day  with  intermission  of  an  hoiir 
between  services,  and  returned  to  town  in  time  to  take  part 
in  the  night  service.  These  two  simultaneous  meetings 
lasted  a  week  with  remarkable  features,  and  persons  were 
baptized  as  the  result  of  each  meeting. 

Advantage  in  Disadvantage. 

Owing  to  lack  of  confidence  in  self  and  lack  of  faith  in 
God,  most  pastors  hesitate  to  undertake  an  evangelistic 
campaign  in  their  own  church,  unassisted.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  are  distinct  advantages  in  the  plan.  1.  It  culti- 
vates a  sense  of  dependence  on  God,  the  secret  of  spiritual 
power,  and  makes  the  personality  of  God  more  sensibly 
real  than  in  any  other  way,  except  possibly  in  extreme 
illness  or  sore  bereav^ement.  2.  It  throws  a  church  on  its 
own  resources,  which  wins  for  the  pastor  such  sympathetic 
co-operation  of  his  people  that  instead  of  disappointing, 
they  will  put  forth  their  best  efforts,  and  before  the  meet- 
ing closes,  they  will  assure  him  it  was  the  most  effective 
preaching  they  ever  heard,  and  how  profoundly  grateful 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  77 

they  are  that  they  had  no  special  evangehst.  In  services 
of  this  character,  pastor  and  people  will  know  each  other 
as  never  before.  If  any  man  is  a  doubting  Thomas,  let 
him  accept  the  challenge  to  try  the  experiment.  "Can 
there  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?"  "Come  and 
see."  3.  It  brings  the  preacher  in  more  direct  touch  with 
the  unsaved.  The  crowds  will  probably  not  be  so  great, 
but  the  individuals  will  not  thereby  be  hidden  in  the  mass. 
Preacher  and  audience  will  each  realize  that  the  appeal  is 
more  personal  and  direct.  4.  Continued  services  of  this 
character  are  splendid  physical  exercise,  and  would  be  a 
good  substitute  for  golf  links.  The  feeling  of  fatigue  is 
frequently  due  to  auto-suggestion,  and  instead  of  getting 
some  physician  to  prescribe  "a  much  needed  rest,"  let 
the  pastor  try  the  experiment,  as  an  alternative,  of  con- 
ducting evangelistic  ser\ices  in  his  own  church  for  two 
weeks.  5.  It  cultivates  preaching  ability.  The  best 
method  of  learning  to  preach  is  to  preach.  Spurgeon,  the 
prince  of  preachers,  sa>s  it  is  easier  to  preach  every  day  in 
the  week  than  once  on  the  Sabbath.  There  are  failures 
in  the  ministry  because  they  misapprehend  the  purpose  of 
a  sermon.  Polished  and  logical  sermons  are  beautiful 
works  of  art,  but  the  most  polished  works  of  art  are  but 
lifeless  stone,  the  imitation  of  life.  After  a  seminary  course, 
thus  laying  a  good  foundation,  the  minister  who  would 
improve  his  preaching  power  should  undertake  instead 
of  a  post  graduate  course,  special  services  in  his  own 
church  under  the  inspiration  and  tuition  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  whose  gracious  infilling  will  speedily  impress  him 
that  the  purpose  of  a  sermon  is  to  win  souls,  and  the  direct 
object  of  preaching  is  to  get  an  immediate  verdict.  He 
will  be  better  instructed  in  the  art  of  preaching  in  two  weeks 
than  in  all  the  post  graduate  courses  on  earth.  6.  It  will 
produce  the  best  results.  There  will  be  more  genuine 
conversions  if  he  places  himself  under  the  control  of  the 
Spirit  than  by  all  the  galvanic  revivals  worked  up  by  the 


78  The  Task  That  Challenges 

most  ingenious  expert.  7.  Above  all  things,  it  Avili  save 
the  embarrassment  of  professionalism.  He  will  not  be 
embarrassed  by  being  made  a  factor  in  questionable  ma- 
chinery, or  compelled  to  work  up  crowds  to  satisfy  the 
professional  evangelist  or  under  the  necessity  of  count- 
ing numbers  to  prevent  the  meeting  being  considered  a 
tailure;  or  of  using  high  pressure  to  increase  the  "free  will 
offering"  at  the  close,  so  mortifying  to  all  concerned,  and 
in  many  cases  partaking  of  commercialism  to  such  extent 
as   to   counterbalance  the  good  accomplished. 

J.     Personal  Pastoral  Evangelisyn. 

In  addition  to  evangelistic  preaching  and  evangelistic 
meetings  conducted  by  the  pastor  himself,  a  third  means 
must  be  mentioned  to  complete  the  chapter  of  this  pastor's 
experience.  To  distinguish  it  from  personal  work  shared 
b>-  all  Christian  people,  this  is  denominated  personal 
pastoral  evangelism.  It  or  something  equivalent  should 
be  employed  b}-  every  pastor  who  has  a  passion  to  win 
souls.  First  of  all,  a  complete  prayer  list  should  be  kept 
of  all  the  unchurched  in  the  congregation  and  community. 
It  will  serxe  the  purpose  of  intercessory  prayer,  in  itself 
calculated  to  kindle  to  intense  heat  the  interest  of  the 
pastor  in  their  individual  cases.  It  will  answer  the  objec- 
tion of  the  "Session"  that  there  is  no  "material"  for  an 
evangelistic  meeting.  This  objection  is  usually  the  first 
obstacle  which  confronts  the  pastor  when  special  services 
are  proposed. 

This  prayer  list  is  in^'aluable  as  a  practical  basis  for 
"professional"  visits  in  personal  pastoral  work.  The 
plan  pursued  was  very  simple,  but  most  effective.  One 
by  one,  the  persons  on  this  list  were  selected  for  regular 
pastoral  visits,  after  securing  the  consent  of  each  part\-. 
Explaining  carefully  that  the  object  of  such  visits  is  to  con- 
verse freelv  and  informally  on  the  subject  of  personal  salva- 
tion, if  consent  was  obtained,  very  seldom  did  the  effort 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  79 

fail  to  lead  the  individual  to  Christ  and  into  the  fold.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  more  were  M'on  by  this  apostolic  method 
of  "House-to-house,"  or  by  the  ministry  of  the  pulpit. 

The  following  illustrations  will  serve  to  show  the  method 
used  and  the  results  obtained.  In  the  congregation  were 
four  sisters  whose  ages  ranged  from  twenty  to  thirty. 
The  father  attended  no  church,  the  mother  was  a  com- 
municant of  another  denomination.  The  four  sisters 
attended  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  regularly  as  the 
a\erage  church  member.  Selecting  the  youngest  as  the 
most  approachable,  it  was  explained  that  the  pastor  de- 
sired to  make  her  a  personal  visit  two  or  three  times  a 
month,  to  talk  informally  on  personal  religion.  Assurance 
was  given  that  it  was  to  be  friendly,  and  in  a  pleasant 
way,  without  embarrassment.  Her  consent  was  most 
cordialh'  given.  The  first  pastoral  visit  was  naturally 
slightly  embarrassing  to  both.  Her  conversation  was 
somewhat  constrained,  and  her  objections  to  entering 
upon  a  Christian  life  were  the  usual  stereotyped  "excuses," 
and  not  candid  reasons.  By  the  time  the  second  visit 
ended  the  reserve  was  broken  down,  her  real  feelings  were 
re\ealed,  and  she  was  evidently  interested,  and  according- 
ly they  knelt  and  prayed  together.  After  a  few  such  visits, 
the  pastor  suggested  that  he  did  not  w^ish  to  pursue  her, 
and  would  discontinue  whenever  she  so  desired.  Upon 
this  she  became  the  one  to  insist  on  the  continuance,  say- 
ing she  was  thoroughly  interested,  really  desired  to  be  a 
Christian,  but  had  as  yet  experienced  no  special  change 
and  lacked  "feeling."  During  the  same  time  the  pastor 
was  talking  in  the  same  way  to  a  young  man,  and  they  be- 
gan talking  to  each  other.  About  two  months  after  these 
visits  began,  one  Sabbath  night  the  pastor  preached  on 
"Thou  art  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  and  gave 
his  usual  invitation  at  the  close  of  the  service,  and  pro- 
nounced the  benediction.  The  young  woman  came  rush- 
ing up  the  aisle  with  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks,  ex- 


so  The  Task  That  Challenges 

claiming,  "Oh,  Dr.,  it's  come,  it's  come!"  At  the  same 
time  the  young  man  came  up  the  other  aisle,  and  neither 
had  seen  the  other  till  they  met  before  the  pulpit. 

Exactly  the  same  method  was  pursued  with  the  other 
sisters,  and  one  by  one  they  were  received  into  the  Presby- 
terian Church  except  one,  who  for  good  reasons  went  into 
her  mother's  church. 

During  a  meeting  in  which  Dr.  Nathan  Bachman  assisted, 
the  pastor  went  out  in  the  afternoon  for  personal  work, 
and  stopped  at  a  house  where  he  found  the  family  all  away, 
except  a  young  lady  from  another  city  visiting  her  sister. 
In  order  to  give  a  natural  religious  turn  to  the  conversa- 
tion, the  sermon  which  Dr.  Bachman  had  just  preached 
was  rehearsed.  As  she  became  interested,  the  claims  of 
Christ  were  pressed  upon  her,  and  the  interview  was  closed 
with  prayer.  She  immediately  and  definitely  accepted 
the  offer  of  salvation,  and  was  received  into  the  church  on 
the  following  Sabbath.  Within  less  than  a  year  she  de- 
veloped tuberculosis  and  died  in  the  faith. 

In  one  instance  this  method  was  pursued  with  an  ex- 
ceptionally fine  mother  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
Primitive  Baptist  faith,  and  it  required  more  than  two  years 
to  bring  her  to  a  decision,  but  the  remarkable  triumph 
of  her  faith  was  worth  the  effort,  and  the  development  of 
Christian  character  led  her  finally  to  the  presidency  of  the 
Woman's  Aid  Society. 

These  are  given  as  specimens  of  many  won  by  this 
method.  By  wise  and  prudent  use  of  such  or  similar 
methods,  almost  any  pastor  can  have  a  fruitful  ministry, 
and  grow  in  the  sanctified  art  of  winning  souls. 

Lay  Evangelism  and  Personal  Work. 

Influenced  by  a  jealous  regard  for  the  ministry  of  Moses, 
one  ran  to  him  with  the  intelligence  that  "Eldad  and 
Medad"  were  prophesying  in  the  midst  of  the  camp.  His 
reply  was  both  characteristic  and  creditable:  "Would  God 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  81 

that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets."  God's  manifest 
endorsement  of  the  work  of  such  men  as  Moody,  influences 
the  Church  to  encourage  gifted  and  zealous  men  to  conduct 
religious  services  by  exhorting  men  to  repentance  and  the 
acceptance  of  Christ,  even  though  these  laymen,  for  good 
and  sufficient  reasons,  could  not  enter  the  ranks  of  the  or- 
dained ministry.  In  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  the 
invitations  of  the  Gospel,  provision  is  made  and  responsi- 
bility laid  on  all  Christian  people  to  join  in  the  evangelistic 
campaign  of  soul  winning:  "The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say 
come."  If  any  individual  Christian  excuses  himself 
(though  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,  "the  bride")'on 
the  ground  that  this  invitation  means  the  official  message 
by  the  Church,  through  its  called  representatives,  the  next 
statement  so  enlarges  the  responsibility  as  to  include  un- 
mistakably the  individual:  "Let  him  that  heareth  say  come.'' 

The  ministry  is  the  official  and  ordained  means  of  evan- 
gelizing the  world,  but  the  task  is  too  tremendous,  and  will 
not  be  speedily  accomplished  until  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  there  is  a  return  to  the  apostolic 
methods  of  the  primitive  Church  in  the  early  days  of  Chris- 
tianity, wherein  the  whole  body  of  believers  joined  the 
campaign  of  spreading  the  Gospel.  "Personal  Workers 
Legions"  and  "Win  One  Campaigns"  are  efforts  of  well 
meaning  people  to  enlist  individual  Christians  in  the  blessed 
work  of  soul  winning.  They  are  steps  in  the  right  direction, 
but  are  nevertheless  inadequate  to  the  need.  Nothing 
short  of  a  universal  movement  to  awaken  the  entire  Church 
to  the  consciousness  that  by  its  Commission  and  Constitu- 
tion, the  Church  itself  is  a  "Personal  Workers'  League," 
will  be  adequate  to  meet  the  exigency  of  the  world's  need. 
If  the  Church  could  be  aroused  to  the  possibility  and  re- 
sponsibility of  the  matter,  no  man  could  say  how  easily 
and  speedily  the  evangelization  of  the  world  could  be 
accomplished. 

Rev.  W.  E.  Beiderwolf ,  evangelist,  has  made  the  startling 


82  The  Task  That  Challenges 

calculation  that  if  but  one  Christian  existed  in  all  the  world, 
and  he  should  win  one  man  in  a  year,  and  each  in  turn 
should  win  another  annually,  by  the  law  of  geometrical 
progression  it  would  require  only  thirty-two  and  one-half 
years  to  win  the  world. 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  helpful  leaflets  ever  issued 
on  this  subject  is  entitled,  "Suppose,"  published  by  the 
Great  Commission  Prayer  League,  of  Chicago,  111.  It  is 
available  for  gratuitous  distribution.  The  first  sentence 
is  given  as  an  indication  of  its  purpose  and  spirit: 

"Suppose  some  one  were  to  offer  me  a  thousand  dollars 
for  every  soul  that  I  might  earnestly  try  to  lead  to  Christ, 
would  I  endeavor  to  lead  any  more  souls  to  him  than  I  am 
endeavoring  to  do  now?  Is  it  possible  that  I  would  attempt 
to  do  for  rnoney,  even  at  the  risk  of  blunders  or  ridicule, 
what  I  hesitate  or  shrink  from  doing  now  in  obedience  to 
(jod's  command?  Is  my  love  of  money  stronger  than  my 
love  of  God,  or  of  souls?  How  feeble,  then,  my  love  of 
God!     Perhaps  this  explains  why  I  am  not  a  soul-winner." 

Who  can  forecast  the  consequences  of  winning  one  soul  for 
Christ?  "Andrew  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon  .  .  , 
and  he  brought  him  to  Jesus."  His  brother  Simon  Peter 
brought  3,000  to  Christ  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  These 
3,000  won  others,  and  in  all  probability  both  author  and 
reader  are  Christians  to-day  as  the  result  of  a  long  line  of 
antecedents  and  personal  conversions  as  the  direct  result 
of  Andrew's  act  in  winning  his  brother  for  Christ. 

Wilberforce,  in  God's  hands,  was  the  instrument  of  con- 
verting Philip  Doddridge,  who  in  turn  led  Richard  Baxter 
to  Christ.  Richard  Baxter  wrote  "The  Call  to  the  Un- 
converted," which  powerfulh'  affected  the  author  in  the 
critical  period  of  \outh  and  has  led  other  hundreds  and 
thousands  to  Christ.  The  stream  will  go  on  multiplying, 
and  eternity  alone  will  reveal  the  vast  number  of  the  saved 
through  this  instrumentalit>-. 

The  highest  tribute  paid  one  of  our  pastors  was  the  inno- 


Evangelism — Pastoral  and  Personal  83 

cent  remark  of  a  child,  who  was  alwa>s  one  of  his  most  in- 
terested hearers.  One  day  while  playing  with  his  children, 
she  said  to  him,  "Do  you  know  why  I  always  love  to  hear 
you  preach?"  "No,  Fannie,  won't  you  please  tell  me?" 
"Why,"  said  she,  "it  is  because  you  take  such  an  interest  in 
retioion."  That  guileless  remark  of  a  simple  child  made 
a  tremendous  impression.  If  the  same  effect  were  pro- 
duced on  the  entire  audience  by  every  sermon  preached; 
and  if  every  Christian  took  a  profound  interest  in  the 
salvation  of  other  souls,  in  its  highest  significance,  the 
"Kingdom  of  Heaven  would  be  at  hand,"  and  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world,  a  speedily  finished  task. 


V. 

THE  BLACK  MAN'S  BURDEN. 

"And  hath  made  of  one  (blood)  all  nations  of  men  for  to 
dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth."  In  these  emphatic 
terms  Paul,  standing  in  the  midst  of  Mars  Hill,  declared 
to  the  race-proud  Athenians  the  fact  of  the  unity  of  the 
human  race.  Charles  Darwin,  in  his  "Origin  of  the 
Species,"  adds  the  weight  of  his  authority.  Religion  and 
Science  in  their  last  analysis  are  never  in  contradiction. 
Upon  the  scientific  fact  of  blood  relationship.  Philanthropy 
bases  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Upon  the  revealed  fact  of 
redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  Christianity  grounds  the 
brotherhood  of  believers. 

Race  Prejudice. 

Unity  of  blood,  however,  does  not  prevent  race  pre- 
judice. Christianity  itself  is  not  able  entirely  to  overcome 
prejudices  which  have  a  natural  basis.  The  mutual 
antipathy  between  Caucasian  and  Negro  is  not  more  deep- 
rooted  than  between  American  and  Oriental  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  In  the  caste  system  of  India  it  finds  its  extreme 
development  in  class  antipathy,  more  exclusive  and  bitter 
than  race  prejudice.  Pharisaic  condemnation  of  those  who 
will  not  accord  to  the  Negro  social  equality  does  not  serve 
to  protect  the  Negro  from  more  unsympathetic  treatment 
by  the  critics  themselves. 

The  Discipline  of  Slavery. 

In  the  development  of  a  nation,  more  than  once  divine 
Providence  has  utilized  as  a  training  school  the  institution 
of  slavery.  During  a  period  of  400  years,  God's  chosen 
people  were  subject  to  the  bitter  bondage  of  Egypt  until 
thev  were  solidified   into  a   nation.     History  abounds  in 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  85 

illustrations  of  inferior  peoples  being  subjected  to  the  up- 
lifting influences  of  superiors  as  masters.  The  same  prin- 
ciple obtains  in  the  apprenticeship  of  an  artisan  to  a  master 
mechanic.  In  his  minority,  the  child  is  absolutely  in  the 
power  of  the  parent. 

In  all  such  relationships  there  has  been  the  abuse  of 
power.  Cruel  fathers  are  as  much  in  evidence  as  cruel 
masters.  If  love  ordinarily  restrains  the  father  from  ill- 
treatment  of  the  child,  self-interest  likewise  served  to  pre- 
vent the  abuse  of  the  slave.  In  addition  to  this  considera- 
tion, quite  frequently  there  existed  between  master  and 
slave  genuine  affection  and  a  sincere  friendship,  honoring 
alike  to  both.  The  Simon  Legree  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin" 
finds  a  duplicate  in  many  an  unnatural  father.  The  author 
in  early  childhood  was  reared  in  close  touch  with  slavery. 
Among  dozens  of  masters,  he  remembers  but  one  recognized 
as  cruel,  and  he  was  under  the  ban  of  ostracism  by 
society  for  his  offense.  In  the  same  community  lived  a 
father  who  was  accustomed  to  horsewhip  his  own  son  so 
severely  that  when  the  latter  was  discovered  hanging  to 
the  limb  of  a  tree,  it  could  not  be  ascertained  whether  it 
was  suicide  to  escape  a  condition  intolerable,  or  murder 
on  the  part  of  the  father. 

Not  an    Unmitigated  Evil. 

This  is  no  apology  for  slavery.  It  can  summon  Scrip- 
tural sanctions  and  show  divine  regulations  for  master  and 
slave.  It  was  not  the  "sum  of  all  villainies,"  and  it  was  by 
no  means  an  unmitigated  evil.  In  manj'  instances  it  was 
simply  a  question  of  masters,  the  difference  between  an 
irresponsible  savage  brute  of  a  master  in  Africa,  having  the 
power  of  life  and  death,  and  a  civilized  master  in  America, ' 
restrained  by  law,  by  public  opinion  and  by  Christianity. 
The  most  serious  fault  laid  to  its  charge  was  an  occasional 
separation  of  husband  and  wife;  but  it  compelled  ten  times 
as  many  husbands  and  wives  to  be  faithful  as  it  ever  parted. 


86  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Negro  marriages  are  not  so  sacred  to-day  as  when  slavery 
restrained  the  vicious.  The  author  can  recall  but  one  in- 
stance of  the  severe  whipping  of  an  adult  slave,  and  that 
was  for  interfering  with  the  marital  relations  of  another 
Negro. 

Beneficial  Effects. 

It  produced  the  happiest  race  of  serfs  the  world  has  ever 
known.  Slavery  was  not  specialh-  repulsive  to  the  Negro. 
It  relieved  him  of  all  responsibility  and  care  for  food  and 
raiment,  and  guaranteed  medical  attention  in  sickness 
and  protection  from  want  in  his  declining  years.  Nowhere 
else  on  earth  was  such  affection  between  master  and  slave. 
Booker  T.  Washington's  remarkable  showing  of  Negro 
progress  in  "Up  from  Slavery"  should  have  dated  further 
back  and  been  entitled  "Up  from  Savagery."  Contact 
with  the  white  man  gave  him  his  one  chance.  In  his  native 
land  he  had  made  no  progress  within  historic  times.  The 
difference  between  the  Afro-American  and  the  African  is 
a  sufficient  vindication  of  slavery. 

Slavery  as  a  Missionary  yi<^eNcy. 

Statistics  show  that  it  was  the  most  successful  mis- 
sionary agency  ever  owned  and  blessed  of  God.  From 
1829  to  1865  fifty  million  dollars  were  spent  on  Missions 
in  foreign  lands  with  scarcely  any  appreciable  results 
comparatively.  During  that  period  there  must  have  been 
at  least  a  million  Negro  slaves  in  America  won  for  Chris- 
tianity, since  there  were  in  1864  at  least  550,000  living 
Negro  communicants  on  the  roll  of  the  various  churches. 
It  is  claimed  that  48  per  cent,  of  the  Negroes  (four  and  one- 
half  millions)  to-day  are  identified  with  the  church,  which 
is  almost  twice  as  many  as  there  are  converts  in  all  the 
heathen  countries  of  the  world.  At  least  $25,000,000  are 
now  annually  expended  on  Foreign  Missions,  and  it  is 
mone}-  well  invested  and  fully  justified  by  the  facts;  but 


TJie  Black  Man's  Burden  87 

it  dwindles  into  insignificance  in  comparison  with  slavery 
as  an  indirect  propaganda  of  Christianity. 

Abolition. 

The  difficulties  of  abolishing  slavery  were  greater  than 
superficial  people  imagined.  It  was  easy  to  cut  the  Gordian 
knot  by  extremists  who  boldly  demanded  "An  anti- 
slavery  Bible  and  anti-slavery  God,"  but  what  provision 
could  be  made  for  the  freedmen?  The  experiment  of 
colonization  in  Liberia  was  tried,  and  after  a  few  years  of 
untold  suffering,  the  survivors  begged  piteously  for  re- 
storation to  the  United  States.  Many  masters  were 
willing  to  manumit  their  slaves,  but  that  the>'  could  not 
be  judiciously  managed  in  slave  holding  communities, 
and  they  were  forbidden  to  emigrate  North.  When  John 
Randolph  freed  325,  they  were  not  allowed  to  remain  three 
days  in  Mercer  Count>',  Ohio,  on  land  purchased  for  them, 
although  the>-  were  able  to  give  bond  for  good  behavior. 
In  Illinois,  the  state  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Courts  de- 
cided that  they  were  not  citizens  and  forbade  their  emigra- 
tion to  any  settlement  in  that  state. 

Instead  of  peaceful  legislation  and  Christian  settlement 
of  the  perplexing  question,  the  politicians  of  the  South  and 
the  fanatics  of  the  North  plunged  the  whole  country  into 
a  cruel  civil  war;  and  emancipation  was  employed  as  a 
war  measure,  and  the  institution  was  ended  at  an  enormous 
cost  of  blood  and  treasure. 

Requiescat  in  Pace. 

The  institution  is  forever  dead.  In  the  providence  of 
God  it  has  served  its  purpose  in  disciplining  and  developing 
an  inferior  race.  Economic  conditions  and  climate  con- 
fined it  to  the  South.  That  section  which  inherited  it 
and  defended  it  as  a  sacred  trust  is  relieved  of  a  tremendous 
responsibility-  which  could  not  again  be  thrust  upon  it 
even  at  the  point  of  a  bayonet. 


88  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Negro  Progress  in  Fifty   Years. 

Considering  his  environment,  his  handicap  of  ignorance 
and  poverty,  the  subordination  of  his  best  interests  by 
crafty  politicians  to  their  unscrupulous  schemes,  thereby 
alienating  his  truest  friends,  it  must  be  admitted  even  by 
his  most  unsympathetic  critics  that  no  race  has  ever  done 
better  in  the  face  of  such  formidable  obstacles. 

Economic. 

Statistics  collected  for  the  Negro  Year  Book  indicate 
that  he  owns  550,000  homes.  In  other  words,  counting 
men,  women  and  children,  about  one  in  every  twenty 
owns  his  own  home.  He  operates  937,000  farms,  at 
least  40  per  cent,  of  the  farmers  in  the  South  being  Negroes. 
Businesses  operated  by  Negroes  amount  to  40,000.  The 
sum  total  of  his  wealth  is  $700,000,000,  which  is  increasing 
at  the  rate  of  $25,000,000  annually. 

Much  of  this  wealth  is  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and 
millions  of  the  race  are  in  abject  poverty,  living  from  hand  to 
mouth,  without  the  slightest  concern  for  the  future.  Robert 
E.  Church,  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  died  recently,  leaving  an 
estate  valued  at  $2,000,000;  and  John  McKec,  of  Phila- 
delphia, died  a  millionaire.  The  wealthiest  Negro  in 
America  to-day  is  Sarah  Rector,  a  ten-year-old  Negro  girl 
of  Oklahoma,  whose  income  is  $112,000  a  year,  her  share 
of  oil  wells  operated  on  her  allotment.  Winham  Bros.,  of 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  general  contractors,  handle  contracts 
aggregating  $250,000.00  a  year.  A,  F.  Herndon,  of  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  is  a  wealthy  Negro,  who  for  over  thirty  years 
has  owned  and  operated  the  finest  barber  shop  in  the  city, 
and  is  President  of  the  Atlanta  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Co.,  employing  several  hundred  persons  and  doing  business 
amounting  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  a  year.  Alex- 
ander D.  Hamilton,  of  Atlanta,  is  a  very  reliable  contractor 
in  the  city  who  built  the  residence  of  the  author,  and  has 
the  confidence  of  both  races, 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  ,89 

The  Negro  Business  Directory  and  Commercial  Guide  of 
Atlanta,  is  the  title  of  a  volume  compiled  by  W.  B.  Mat- 
thews. It  shows  that  the  Negroes  of  Atlanta  are  conduct- 
ing more  than  100  different  kinds  of  businesses;  that  there 
are  more  than  2,000  separate  places  owned  and  controlled 
b>'  them;  that  Atlanta  has  40  professional  men  among  its 
Negro  population;  one  old  line  insurance  company  and  six 
industrial  insurance  companies  are  entirely  under  the 
management  of  Negroes;  they  run  one  bank,  have  twelve 
drug  stores,  25  Negro  doctors,  four  dentists,  60  tailor 
shops,  83  barbers,  85  grocers,  80  hacks,  125  draymen  and 
many  other  places  of  business,  including  bakeries,  markets, 
wood  and  coal  yards,  jewelers  and  undertakers.  It  fur- 
ther shows  that  in  educational  institutions,  churches  and 
secret  societies  and  fraternal  sociaties  for  and  among 
Negroes  Atlanta  leads  the  whole  country. 

Twenty-two  life  insurance  companies  are  owned  and 
operated  by  Negroes,  as  well  as  banks,  silk  factories,  de- 
partment stores,  and  other  forms  of  business  and  industr\\ 

Educational. 

Illiteracy  has  decreased  from  95  per  cent,  to  30  per 
cent,  among  Negroes.  Their  colleges  and  normal  schools 
number  500.  Their  students  in  the  public  schools  are 
1,700,000,  and  their  teachers  35,000.  Their  school  prop- 
erty for  higher  education  is  valued  at  $20,000,000;  while 
the  expenditures  for  their  education  amount  to  $13,600,000, 
of  which  amount  they  themselves  raise  $1,500,000. 

Religious. 

Their  churches  number  40,000;  communicants,  4,300,000; 
Sabbath  schools,  41,000;  Sabbath  school  pupils,  2,200,000; 
and  the  value  of  their  church  property  is  $70,000,000. 

Population. 

The  present  population  of  the  globe  is  estimated  at  nearly 
1,600,000,000,  of  whom  703,000,000  are  yellow,  560,000,000 


90  The  Task  That  Challenges 

white,  and  258,112,000  are  black.  Ten  million  of  the 
latter  are  now  in  the  United  States,  being  10  per  cent,  of 
our  entire  population.  These  are  probabl>-  the  most 
fortunately  located  of  all  the  black  people  of  the  earth. 

Negro  Characteristics. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  an  appreciable  percentage  of 
the  race  has  developed  traits  of  character,  that  for  in- 
tegrity, fidelity  and  morality  cannot  be  excelled  by  any 
people;  and  what  is  herein  said  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  Negro  has  no  reference  to  the  individuals  who  have 
compelled  meritorious  recognition  in  spite  of  their  heredity 
and  environment.  Our  sympathetic  attitude  towards  a 
dependent  and  inferior  race,  however,  should  not  permit 
the  sacrifice  of  truth  in  the  interests  of  charit>-  and  senti- 
ment. 

Improvidence. 

As  a  race  they  are  notoriously  improvident  for  the 
future,  and  wasteful  without  regard  to  consequences.  They 
literally  "take  no  thought  for  the  morrow."  If  they  have 
a  supply  of  food  for  to-day,  they  are  utterly  unconcerned 
for  the  next  meal.  Comparatively  few  have  ambition 
to  own  a  home  or  start  a  bank  account.  Wages  may  not 
be  high,  but  work  is  plentiful,  and  having  the  bare  necessi- 
ties of  life,  they  are  the  happiest  people  on  earth,  though 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  have  perhaps  better  and  more 
abundant  food  than  the  peasantry  of  most  European  and 
Oriental  countries. 

Indolence. 

The  Negro  is  naturally  laz>'  and  will  do  onl>-  just  suffi- 
cient work  to  supply  present  bodily  needs.  They  must  be 
driven  by  necessity  or  compelled  by  a  master.  They  are 
capable  of  enduring  hard  work  and  are  patient  under 
heavy  burdens;  but  their  malingering  method  of  handling 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  91 

their  task  will  wear  threadbare  the  patience  of  their  em- 
ployers. Very  few  have  sufficient  pride  of  character  to 
turn  out  well  finished  work.  The  majority  will  calculate 
the  very  least  amount  of  exertion  necessary*  to  render  their 
work  merely  passable. 

Indulgence. 

Lack  of  self-control  permits  indulgence  in  w'hatever  ex- 
cess tempts  his  appetite  or  passion.  The  gratification  of 
the  present  moment  outweighs  all  considerations  of  future 
rewards.  He  has  no  greater  resisting  power  than  a  child 
in  time  of  temptation.  A  Christian  physician  estimates 
that  fully  98  per  cent,  of  Negro  men  are  impure.  He  falls 
victim  to  whiskey,  tobacco  or  cocaine,  according  to  which 
has  once  fired  his  appetite  for  gratification.  Even  his 
very  religion  is  largely  an  indulgence  of  his  highly  emotional 
nature,  in  which  he  may  be  wrought  up  to  the  very  highest 
pitch  of  frenzied  feeling,  and  yet  be  lacking  absolutely  in 
ethical    character. 

Balancing  the  Account. 

To  these  sad  defects  of  character  might  be  added  a  long 
list  of  racial  faults,  dishonesty,  cruelty,  fighting  and  super- 
stition; but  to  his  credit,  fairness  cheerfulh'  compels  the 
admission  that  he  has  many  redeeming  qualities.  He  is 
generous  to  a  fault.  His  last  loaf  is  willingly  shared  with 
any  unfortunate  individual  who  needs  his  hospitality. 
His  church  dues  will  frequently  supersede  the  needs  of  his 
family.  In  anger  he  may  unmercifully  beat  wife  or  chil- 
dren or  domestic  animal,  and  yet  in  his  better  moods  he 
cannot  be  surpassed  in  kindness.  He  may  be  utterly  un- 
reliable in  his  W'Ork  or  his  promised  word,  and  yet  he  is 
capable  of  fidelity  to  a  trust  or  to  a  member  of  his  former 
master's  family  that  is  the  puzzle  of  the  psychologist.  His 
vices  and  his  virtues,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  are  often 
closely  related. 


92  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Possibilities  of  Character. 

Not  a  few  Negroes  have  risen  by  virtue  of  inherent  abiHty, 
industrious  toil,  or  persevering  effort,  to  illustrious  fame. 
Booker  T.  Washington,  of  Tuskegee,  Ala.,  was  one  of  the 
foremost  educators  of  this  country,  a  benefactor  of  his 
race,  and  one  of  the  finest  speakers  of  America.  Wm.  H. 
Sheppard,  missionary  to  the  Congo,  by  his  pioneer  explora- 
tions in  the  Dark  Continent,  won  for  himself  membership 
in  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  England.  Major 
Moton,  of  Hampton  Institute,  now  successor  to  Booker 
T.  Washington,  and  R.  R.  Wright,  Savannah,  Ga.,  have 
attained  preeminence  as  teachers  of  their  race.  Paul 
Lawrence  Dunbar  has  made  himself  immortal  in  poems 
that  will  rank  with  the  best  thought  of  America.  Lack  of 
space  permits  only  one  or  two  specimens: 

SLOW  THROUGH  THE  DARK. 
"Slow  moves  the  pageant  of  a  climbing  race; 
Their  footsteps  drag  far,  far  below  the  height, 
And,  unprevaihng  by  their  utmost  might. 
Seem  faltering  downward  from  each  high  won  place. 
No  strange,  swift-sprung  exception  we;  we  trace 
A  devious  way  thro'  dim,  uncertain  light — 
Our  hope,  through  the  long-vistaed  years,  a  sight 
Of  that  our  Captain's  soul  sees  face  to  face. 

Who,  faithless,  faltering  that  the  road  is  steep, 
Now  raiseth  up  his  drear,  insistent  cry? 

Who  stoppeth  here  to  spend  a  while  in  sleej), 
Or  curses  that  the  storm  obscures  the  sky? 

Heed  not  the  darkness  round  you,  dull  and  deej); 
The  clouds  grown  thickest  when  the  summit's  high." 


RIGHT'S  SECURITY. 
"Right  arms  and  armors,  too,  that  man 
Who  will  not  compromise  with  wrong; 
Though  single,  he  must  front  the  throng. 
And  wage  the  battle  hard  and  long. 
Minorities,  since  time  began, 
Have  shown  the  better  side  of  man ; 
And  often  in  the  lists  of  time 
One  man  has  made  a  cause  sublime!" 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  93 

RELIGION. 

"I  am  no  priest  of  crooks  nor  creeds, 
For  human  wants  and  human  needs 
Are  more  to  me  than  prophets'  deeds; 
And  Imman  tears  and  human  cares 
Affect  me  more  than  human  prayers. 

"Go,  cease  your  wail,  higubrious  saint! 
You  fret  high  heaven  with  your  plaint. 
Is  this  the  'Christian's  joy'  you  paint? 
Is  this  the  Christian's  boasted  bhss? 
Avails  your  faith  no  more  than  this? 

"Take  up  your  arms,  come  out  with  me. 
Let  heav'n  alone;  humanity 
Needs  more,  and  heaven  less  from  thee. 
With  pity  for  mankind  look  'round; 
Help  them  to  rise — and  heaven  is  found!"' 

Other  Negroes  unknown  to  fame  have  yet  attained 
nobility  of  character  which  deserves  honorable  recognition. 

In  Oconee  County,  S.  C,  a  Negro  set  aside  a  portion  of 
his  land  for  a  church,  cut  the  lumber  from  his  own  forests, 
built  and  painted  the  church  with  his  own  hands,  where  it 
still  stands,  a  monument  to  his  character.  In  the  same 
community  was  a  white  congregation  without  house  of 
worship.  An  elder  assembled  the  membership  and  said : 
"If  one  Negro  man  built  a  church  unaided,  why  can't 
nineteen  white  men  build?"  And  they  did.  The  author, 
who  dedicated  the  white  church,  alluded  to  the  case  as 
"Two  churches  which  a  Negro  built;  one  by  his  hands  and 
the  other  by  his  influence." 

Charles  Birthright,  of  Missouri,  born  a  slave,  by  fru- 
gality, industry,  and  w^ise  investments  after  the  war,  ac- 
cumulated a  fortune,  and  dying  recently  willed  his  estate, 
valued  at  $50,000,  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.,  for 
educating  a  colored  ministry. 

The  will  of  J.  O.  Connolly,  of  Atlanta,  a  retired  Negro 
groceryman  and  a  citizen  highly  respected  by  both  races, 


94  TJie  Task  That  Challenges 

was  probated  quite  recently  in  the  ordinary's  office, 
when  it  was  found  to  be  a  document  of  much  interest. 
By  industry  and  sobriety  Connolly  had  saved  almost  $lv3,- 
000  in  cash  and  several  parcels  of  real  estate. 

While  his  widow  and  two  daughters  share  the  bulk  ot 
the  estate,  a  number  of  bequests  are  made  and  directions 
are  given  concerning  some  few  wishes.  The  will  directs 
that  the  lot  at  Old  Wheat  and  Howell  streets  be  reserved 
for  an  apartment  house  or  a  sanitarium.  Money  was  left 
for  the  erection  of  two  public  drinking  fountains,  one  at 
Houston  and  Courtland  streets  and  the  other  in  front  of 
the  Big  Bethel  Church. 

In  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  work  being  done 
is  through  the  agency  of  the  Sam  Daily  Reformatory  for 
colored  youths  at  Ralph,  Ala.  Negro  criminals  in  their 
"teens,"  instead  of  being  sentenced  to  the  chain  gang,  are 
sent  to  this  school  in  the  country,  fifteen  miles  from  town 
or  railroad.  It  was  begun  by  Sam  Dail>',  a  colored  elder 
in  our  Church,  interrupted  but  slightly  by  his  death,  and 
is  operated  by  his  wife,  assisted  by  Rev.  W.  M.  Parham, 
teacher  and  preacher  paid  by  the  Executive  Committee. 
A  Committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  visited  and  in- 
spected the  work  and  reported  to  the  Executive  Committee 
that  it  had  educated  over  200  Negro  boys,  90  per  cent,  of 
whom  had  made  good.  There  are  thirty-six  at  present 
in  training.  The  farm  consists  of  about  500  acres  of  rather 
poor  land,  owned  by  Mrs.  Sam  Daily,  on  which  there  is  a 
mortgage  of  $1,800,  which  is  being  slowly  reduced  each 
year.  The  buildings,  dormitory,  barn  and  church  are  of 
the  rudest  kind,  giving  the  poorest  accommodations,  and 
the  boys  were  ragged  beyond  description,  but  good  char- 
acters were  being  formed  by  the  training  received  and  many 
were  being  saved  by  the  evangelistic  work  done. 

The  Environments  of  the  Negro. 

The  average  Negro  home  is  uncomfortable,  unhealthy, 
and  anything  but  conducive  to  morality.     Large  families 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  95 

frequently  occupy  a  one-room  cabin,  where  they  cook,  eat 
and  sleep,  without  being  able  to  preserve  even  the  decencies 
of  life.  Such  surroundings  necessarily  have  an  influence 
on  character.  Flies  swarm  over  their  food  and  insects 
infest  their  wretched  quarters.  Disease  preys  upon  them 
and  carries  myriads  of  their  children  to  untimely  graves. 
"None  of  us  liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  unto 
himself,"  has  special  verification  in  his  case.  If  we  doom 
him  to  the  haunts  of  typhoid  fever  and  tuberculosis,  he 
will  not  alone  suffer.  The  law  of  compensation  will  get 
in  its  inevitable  work,  and  he  will  spread  the  germs  of  dis- 
ease in  the  most  elegant  homes  of  the  city.  The  cook, 
the  butler,  and  the  laundry  woman  will  not  take  special 
pains  to  confine  their  troubles  to  their  own  abode. 

The  North  preaches  social  equality  and  miscegenation 
to  the  South,  and  loves  the  Negro  at  long  range.  The 
following  story  will  illustrate  the  different  attitudes  of 
North  and  South  towards  the  Negro.  A  colored  man  in 
Boston,  out  of  work  and  in  distress,  begged  from  door  to 
door,  only  to  receive  the  same  answer,  "Sorry,  Mister,  but 
we  can't  help  you."  i\t  last,  knocking  at  a  door  and  ask- 
ing for  food,  a  man  exclaimed:  "You  black  rascal,  what  do 
you  mean  by  coming  to  the  front  door?  Go  to  the  back 
door  and  tell  the  cook  to  feed  you."  Falling  upon  his 
knees,  he  cried,  "Thank  God,  Fve  found  my  own  folks  at 
last;  dey  scolds  me  at  the  front,  but  dey  feeds  me  in  de 
kitchen." 

In  the  South,  a  white  man  and  a  Negro  will  work  side 
by  side  on  the  same  wall,  on  the  friendliest  terms;  but  if 
the  Negro  goes  North,  he  is  driven  out  by  Trades  Unions, 
or  ostracized  by  competitors.  One  man  tried  the  experi- 
ment, and  as  he  hastily  retreated  Southward,  an  acquaint- 
ance inquired  the  reason  for  his  haste.  To  which  he  re- 
plied: "Bless  God,  if  I'se  got  to  be  lynched,  I  wants  to  be 
lynched  by  my  friends." 


96  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  Negro  Problem. 

Politician,  philosopher,  statesman  and  churchman  have 
racked  their  brain  and  vexed  their  soul  over  the  solution  of 
the  Negro  Problem — in  vain.  It  seems  to  grow  more  com- 
plicated. The  visionary  fanatic  of  the  North,  the  educated, 
embittered  Negro  himself,  and  the  noisy  demagogue  of  the 
South,  have  intensified  the  situation  by  driving  farther 
apart  the  good  Negro  and  the  best  type  of  Southern  white 
man.  Legislation  has  utterly  failed.  Segregation  has 
been  considered  and  pronounced  impossible.  Education 
is  absolutely  inadequate.  Miscegenation  is  repulsive  and 
illegal.  Christianity  has  never  been  tried,  except  in  a  very 
feeble  way. 

Booker  T.  Washington,  by  his  industrial  training;  former 
Governor  W.  J.  Northen,  by  his  Christian  philanthropy; 
Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  by  his  sympathetic  teaching,  and 
Rev.  John  Little,  by  loving  ministrations,  are  rendering 
both  races  valuable  service,  and  perhaps  as  pioneers  are 
leading  the  way. 

Tlie  Obligation  of  the  North. 

The  Negro  is  an  immigrant,  but  not  an  emigrant.  He 
did  not  come  to  America  of  his  own  accord.  New  England 
is  largely  responsible  for  his  presence  among  us.  B>-  a 
three-cornered  trade  in  which  molasses  was  imported  from 
the  West  Indies  to  Boston,  converted  into  rum,  and  traded 
for  Negroes  in  Africa,  who  were  sold  to  the  West  Indies 
and  the  South,  the  curse  of  slavery  was  foisted  on  our 
unfortunate  country.  This  entails  tremendous  responsi- 
bility on  those  who  imported  him,  to  make  amends  for 
their  wrong. 

The  North  is  also  responsible  for  his  changed  relations 
and  conditions,  which  may  be  reckoned  as  a  partial  effort 
to  undo  the  damage;  but  which  also  involves  added  re- 
sponsibility. The  two  best  known  Negro  characters  in 
"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  are  Uncle  Tom,  the  hero,  and  Topsy. 


Tlie  Black  Man's  Burden  97 

Vnde  Tom,  the  pious,  faithful  servant,  the  product  and  the 
victim  of  slavery,  is  a  type  forever  gone.  A  Northern 
overseer  killed  him,  and  Northern  armies  ended  the  institu- 
tion which  trained  and  developed  such  noble  characters. 
"Topsy,"  the  neglected  Negro  girl  who  "just  growed," 
is  still  with  us,  not  singly,  but  by  the  thousands.  Abolition 
emancipated  the  Uncle  Toms,  but  has  devised  no  remedy  for 
the  Topsies  who  are  increasingly  in  evidence  among  us. 
Emancipation  has  produced  some  good  business  men, 
developed  some  splendid  Negro  characters,  better  educated 
and  equipped,  but  none  more  saintly  than  Uncle  Tom. 
Emancipation  is  dumb  with  silence,  and  impotent  as  a 
means  of  abolishing  the  Topsies.  To  the  kindly  care  and 
sympathetic  help  of  the  Christian  women  throughout  the 
nation,  Topsy  is  most  tenderly  commended. 

To  its  credit  be  it  said,  the  North  responded  nobly  to 
the  call  of  the  Negro  in  the  South,  and  has  expended  millions 
in  educating  and  evangelizing  him,  but  does  not  seem  great- 
ly concerned  for  the  Negro  in  the  North.  The  tendency 
is  to  aid  him  by  long  distance  applications.  England  sent 
missionaries  to  the  Negro  in  the  United  States  during 
Colonial  days.  The  North  sends  missionaries  and  teachers 
to  the  South,  and  the  latter  sends  missionaries — to  Africa 

The  Obligation  of  the  South. 

This  is  no  suggestion  of  shifting  responsibility  to  North- 
ern shoulders.  Lay  it  on  them  as  heavily  as  possible,  and 
still  the  greater  responsibility  will  always  remain  with  us 
of  the  South,  by  many  considerations. 

His  Fidelity  in  the  Past. 

Who  tilled  our  fields;  and  by  the  sweat  of  whose  brow 
have  we  been  made  rich?  Whose  gentle  arms  were  our 
cradle  once;  and  by  whose  guiding  hands  were  our  infant 
feet  trained  and  protected  in  our  first  tottering  steps? 
In  whose  guardian  care  were    mothers   and  their  helpless 


98  The  Task  That  Challenges 

children  left  in  those  awful  days  of  fratricidal  war?  When 
our  fathers  fell  on  the  field  of  battle,  who  mingled  their 
tears  with  ours  and  swore  new  allegiance  to  their  widows 
and  orphans?  Who  ever  heard  of  a  Negro  betraying  his 
sacred  trust  in  that  dark  period,  which  still  in  memory 
hangs  like  a  pall  over  our  hearts? 

At  Our  Own  Door. 

In  the  providence  of  God,  he  is  the  poor  we  have  always 
with  us.  He  is  the  Lazarus  lying  at  our  gate.  In  the 
parable  of  Jesus,  not  a  suggestion  is  hinted  of  any  accusa- 
tion against  the  moral  character  of  Dives.  His  was  large- 
ly a  sin  of  omission — just  simply  indifference  to  human 
need.  In  all  that  region  there  were  thousands  of  others 
just  as  needy  as  Lazarus,  and  yet  in  eternity  when  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  he  beheld  none  of  these.  Only  Lazarus 
haunted  him,  and  the  thought  of  his  case  "tormented" 
him.  It  is  the  man  next  to  us  that  constitutes  our  first 
and  chief  responsibility. 

Mr.  John  Randolph,  riding  through  Virginia,  stopped  for 
entertainment  in  a  home  where  a  company  of  ladies  were 
engaged  in  making  garments,  explaining  to  their  distin- 
guished guest  that  they  were  making  garments  for  the 
Greeks  in  their  struggle  for  liberty.  Mr.  Randolph  pointed 
to  some  ragged  Negro  children  in  the  yard,  and  exclaimed: 
"Ladies,  the  Greeks  are  at  your  own  door."  Ministering 
to  the  Negro  on  the  Congo  in  Africa  meets  a  recognized 
obligation,  but  does  not  discharge  the  debt  to  the  Negro 
on  the  Congaree  in  Carolina. 

For  Our  Oivn  Sake. 

Every  deed  of  kindness  performed  and  every  duty 
avoided  has  a  reflex  influence  on  the  person  himself.  Either 
we  must  help  the  Negro  up  or  he  will  drag  us  down.  Booker 
T.  Washington  said  very  pertinently:  "No  man  can  hold 
another  down   in   the  gutter,   except   b>'   keeping  himself 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  99 

down  with  him."  The  treatment  of  an  inferior  is  not  only 
the  test  of  character,  but  it  is  the  development  or  the 
dwarfing  of  manhood. 

For  His  Own  Sake. 

Statistics  showing  the  growing  wealth,  advancing  edu- 
cation and  increasing  church  membership  are  indications 
of  Negro  progress  for  which  we  are  profoundly  grateful; 
and  yet  there  is  another  side  to  the  picture.  Negro  pro- 
gress is  confined  to  a  comparatively  small  per  cent.  The 
dire  need,  the  moral  degradation,  the  spiritual  destitution, 
like  the  tentacles  of  some  gigantic  monster,  embrace  and 
strangle  the  great  masses.  In  the  slums  of  our  crowded 
cities,  in  the  miserable  dives  of  wickedness,  in  the  wretched 
shanties  which  cannot  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  home, 
in  the  lonely  cabin  in  the  woods,  these  people  are  living 
debauched  lives  and  dying  as  hopeless  of  the  mercy  of  God 
as  if  they  were  with  their  kindred  in  the  Dark  Continent. 
Many  will  be  able  to  complain  justly,  "No  man  cared  for 
my  soul." 

For  Chrisfs  Sake. 

Prof.  DuBois,  an  educated  Negro,  wrote  some  painful 
truth  doubtless  in  the  "Souls  of  Black  Folks,"  which  might 
have  made  a  profound  impression,  if  he  had  not  dipped  his 
pen  in  gall  and  vented  his  spleen  in  bitter  thoughts  of  his 
w^hite  brethren.  The  souls  of  Black  Folks  are  as  precious  to 
Christ  as  the  souls  of  the  fairest  Caucasian.  The  Negro  is  the 
man  for  whom  Christ  died.  As  the  shepherd  left  the  ninety 
and  nine  in  the  wilderness  and  went  after  the  sheep  that 
was  lost,  and  as  the  woman  with  lighted  candle  searched 
amid  rubbish  and  filth  for  the  missing  coin,  so  the  Church 
with  the  lighted  candle  of  God's  Word,  through  the  haunts 
of  wickedness,  should  search  for  the  lost  soul  of  the  poorest 
and  most  wretched  Negro,  which  by  the  power  of  divine 
grace  can  be  transformed  into  a  diadem  for  the  casket  of 


100  The  Task  That  ChaUenges 

Heaven.      Is  the  spirit  of  Christ  among  men  in  the  Church 
to-da>? 

Negro  Religious  Life. 

The  Negro  is  intense  in  his  rehgion.  It  fills  the  largest 
part  of  his  life,  but  his  religion  is  of  the  emotional  type, 
almost  entirely  divorced  from  morality'.  During  slavery, 
his  master,  under  the  weight  of  responsibility  for  the  souls 
of  his  servants,  enforced  outward  conformity  to  the  moral 
law  and  compelled  attendance  upon  the  services  of  the 
sanctuary.  Master  and  servant  belonged  to  the  same 
church  and  enjoyed  the  instructions  of  the  same  minister, 
and  sat  at  the  same  communion  table. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  1858,  Rev.  Jno.  B. 
xAdger,  owner  of  a  large  number  of  slaves,  made  a  liberal 
offering  to  Foreign  Missions,  as  an  expression  of  his  thank- 
fulness for  the  conversion  of  many  of  his  slaves.  Sabbath 
afternoons  on  many  a  plantation  were  occupied  by  the 
mistress  gathering  the  younger  Negroes  around  her,  read- 
ing to  them  the  Scriptures  and  teaching  them  the  cate- 
chisms and  familiar  hymns.  As  the  result,  there  was  an 
increasing  number  of  godly  and  devout  Christians  among 
the  Negroes  of  the  South.  With  freedom  came  liberty  of 
choice,  and  most  of  them,  led  by  those  ambitious  to  be 
preachers,  broke  away  from  their  old  associations  and  seg- 
regated themselves  in  colored  congregations  with  Negro 
officers  and  ministers.  In  some  instances  it  was  the  blind 
leading  the  blind.  Man>-  of  their  preachers  were  notorious- 
ly immoral  and  sensual.  They  have  to-da>'  a  larger  per- 
centage of  church  membership  in  proportion  to  numbers 
than  white  people.  Undoubtedly  many  of  them  are 
Christian.  Many  of  their  preachers  are  worthy  men,  the 
equal  of  their  white  brethren  in  eloquence  and  ability  to 
expound  the  Word  of  God. 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  101 

The  sad  admission  must  he  made,  however,  that  the 
masses  are  destitute  of  the  principles  of  Christian  char- 
acter. As  a  class,  their  preachers  have  great  influence, 
but  not  the  confidence  of  their  better  element.  Atlanta 
Universit}'  made  the  experiment  of  inquiring  of  two  hun- 
dred leading  colored  laymen  their  opinion  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  Negro  ministry.  Only  thirty-seven  gave  their 
approval.  The  others  refused  to  give  a  vote  of  confidence. 
Much  of  their  preaching  is  emotional,  as  they  work  them- 
selves and  their  susceptible  people  into  a  hysteria  of  ex- 
citement which  both  parties  mistake  for  religion.  The 
wildest  excitement  prevails,  shouting  and  shrieking  which 
terminates  frequenth"  in  exhaustion  and  unconsciousness, 
resembling  a  religious  trance.  The  futility  and  spurious 
character  of  it  are  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  has  no  in- 
fluence for  righteousness  over  their  life  and  conduct. 
All  this  constitutes  a  ground  for  genuine  missionary  effort 
in  their  behalf  b>'  Christian  workers,  and  a  reason  for 
giving  them  an  educated  and  godly  ministry  of  their  own 
race  to  instruct  in  righteousness  and  to  teach  by  example. 

Presbyterian   Ministrations. 

The  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches  for  obvious  reasons 
have  been  most  successful  of  all  denominations  in  reaching 
Negroes;  but  the  Presb\terians  have  rendered  splendid 
service  in  their  behalf  and  have  a  smaller  but  better  trained 
constituencN'.  As  earl>-  as  1816,  the  Presbyterian  Church 
appointed  Dr.  Rice,  of  \^irginia,  as  missionary  to  the 
Negroes.  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  of  Virginia;  Reverends 
Stiles  and  Jones,  of  Georgia;  and  Reverends  Adger,  Flinn 
Dickson  and  Girardeau,  of  South  Carolina,  being  among 
the  ablest  ministers  of  the  Church,  devoted  a  large  part  of 
their  ministry  exclusively  to  the  Negroes. 

Rev.  Charles  A.  Stillman,  of  Alabama,  founded  a  theo- 
logical school  for  them  at  Tuscaloosa,  which  is  still  ful- 
filling its  benevolent  mission  of  training  a  colored  ministry, 


102 


The  Task  That  Challenges 

CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 
AMONG  THE  NEGROES 


Stillman  Institute. 


The  Chapel  at  the  Sam  Daily  School — Instead  of  the  Penitentiary. 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  103 

although  it  has  graduated  more  of  the  other  denomina- 
tions than  Presbyterians. 

Present  Statistics. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  numbers  about  50,000  com- 
municants among  them,  most  of  whom  belong  to  the 
Northern  Church  and  the  Independent  Colored  Cumber- 
land. Attached  to  the  Southern  Church  are  33  ministers, 
70  churches,  and  2,700  communicants,  235  being  added 
during  1914,  the  last  report  available. 

Ecclesiastical  Errors. 

In  attempting  after  the  war  to  adjust  its  work,  to  the 
new  order,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  mistakes  would  be 
made  in  ecclesiastical  circles.  The  Northern  branch  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  attempted  mixed  Presbyteries  and 
Synods.  This  was  foredoomed  to  failure;  and  the  white 
ministers  gradually  refrained  from  attending  the  Colored 
Synod  of  Catawba.  Provision  has  since  been  made  for 
separate  ecclesiastical  courts. 

The  Southern  branch  of  the  Church  made  an  equally 
fundamental  mistake  by  attempting  to  promote  an  Inde- 
pendent Afro-American  Presbyterian  Church,  based  upon 
the  success  of  the  Baptists  and  Methodists  along  that  line 
of  procedure.  This  plan  failed  by  being  too  premature, 
as  it  lacked  competent  leadership,  and  the  ministers  and 
churches  were  too  isolated  for  mutual  counsel  and  assist- 
ance. 

Possibly  the  best  solution  for  the  present  is  the  Colored 
Synod,  erected  in  1916,  as  a  constituent  part  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  sustaining  the  same  relation  as  other 
Synods,  with  its  Presbyteries  represented  in  the  Assembly. 

The  advantages  in  its  favor  are:  1.  It  avoids  race  pre- 
judices; 2.  Develops  self-government  and  initiative  by 
throwing  colored  ministers  upon  their  own  responsibility 
in  some  of  their  meetings,  without  being  restrained  and 


104  The  Task  That  Challenges 

embarrassed  by  the  presence  of  white  ministers;  3.  Culti- 
vates sympathy  between  the  races,  b>-  the  white  furnish- 
ing financial  assistance  to  their  colored  brethren;  4.  Ele- 
vates their  ideals  by  having  their  leadership  meet  in  the 
General  Assembly  with  their  white  brethren,  on  an  equal 
ecclesiastical  footing. 

Methods  of  Christian  Service. 

In  addition  to  financial  assistance,  many  Christian  people 
are  burdened  with  a  sense  of  responsibility,  in  view  of  the 
dire  need  of  the  Negro  race  and  its  spiritual  destitution. 
They  seem  to  hear  God's  voice  inquiring,  "Where  is  thy 
brother?"  And  conscience  raises  the  question,  "Am  I  my 
brother's  keeper?"  The  command,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,"  is  constraining  many  to  volunteer 
for  Christian  service.  Still  the  serious  question  arises,  in 
what  practical  work  can  love  manifest  itself  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage by  the  investment  of  personal  service  in  behalf  of 
the  needy  Negro?  The  answer  must  be  left  largely  to  the 
Christian  conscience  to  follow  the  leadings  of  providence, 
by  regarding  opportunity  as  the  call  of  God.  One  sug- 
gestion perhaps  will  serve  to  point  the  way. 

Colored  Sabbath  Schoots. 

In  many  places  Sabbath  Schools  have  been  (organized 
for  colored  children,  taught  exclusi\'eh-  h\  white  people. 
Those  volunteering  for  such  service  are  following  the  foot- 
steps of  such  illustrious  examples  as  Stonewall  Jackson  and 
Robert  E.  Lee.  The  author  personally  conducted  a  Sab- 
bath school  for  colored  children  during  his  pastorate  at 
Macon,  Ga.,  until  the  work  was  interrupted  by  his  election 
as  Secretary  of  Home  Missions.  The  most  successful 
efforts  of  this  character  have  been  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  Thomasville,  Ga.,  and  preeminently  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  which  deserves  more  than  a  passing  mention. 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  105 

Louisville  Colored  Mission. 

Rev.  John  Little  stands  out  preeminently  as  one  who 
has  definitely  volunteered  for  life  service  among  col- 
ored people.  He  is  the  pioneer  and  the  apostle  of  Negro 
Institutional  Work,  and  gives  this  account  of  its  origin: 

"The  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Colored  Missions  has 
been  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Louisville  to 
give  to  the  Negroes  of  that  community  industrial  training, 
and  instruction  in  religious  truth.  Its  founders  had  no 
theory  to  put  into  practice,  but  rather  sought  to  minister 
to  the  needs  of  the  people  as  these  needs  appeared.  In 
the  seventeen  years  that  this  work  has  been  carried  on,  it 
has  grown  from  a  small  Sunday  school  with  six  white 
teachers  and  twenty-three  colored  pupils  to  two  large  in- 
stitutional churches  with  thirteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  colored  people  attending  its  clubs,  classes  and  ser- 
vices, which  are  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  eighty- 
seven  white  teachers  and  instructors,  in  two  buildings,  open 
seven  days  in  the  week. 

Industrial  Features. 

"The  first  step  was  to  organize  a  Sunday  school  where 
colored  children  would  come  for  instruction  by  white  teach- 
ers. Two  colored  girls  asked  for  a  sewing  class,  and  the 
teachers  at  once  saw  that  this  was  a  needed  supplement 
to  the  Sunday  school.  The  boys,  seeing  the  girls  with 
extra  classes,  made  application,  and  a  class  in  basketry 
was  organized  for  them.  This  later  developed  into  a  car- 
penter's shop.  A  cooking  school  was  the  next  addition 
to  the  scheduled  work,  and  has  proved  the  most  popular 
part  of  our  course  of  instruction.  A  bath-house  with  five 
showers  and  two  tubs  is  serving  an  increasing  number. 
Later  boys'  and  girls'  clubs  were  organized,  in  which  \arious 
lines  of  work  have  been  undertaken  for  their  moral  improve- 
ment.    During    the    summer    months,    playgrounds    have 


106  The  Task  That  Challenges 

been  operated,  and  in  them  hundreds  of  children  have  been 
made  healthier  and  happier.  A  moving  picture  machine 
provides  wholesome  recreation  for  a  community  destitute 
of  such  privileges.  From  the  first,  the  teachers  visited 
the  pupils  regularly  in  their  homes.  The  study  of  these 
homes  and  the  condition  of  the  people  led  us  to  call  to  our 
assistance  able  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  they  have 
proved  to  be  some  of  our  most  valuable  helpers. 

Permanent  Enlargement. 

"For  the  past  two  years,  no  new  line  of  work  has  been 
undertaken,  but  there  has  been  a  steady,  gradual  enlarge- 
ment of  the  departments  mentioned,  because  each  year  a 
larger  number  have  sought  admission  in  these  clubs  and 
classes. 

"For  twelve  years  the  work  was  conducted  in  two  old 
dilapidated  store  rooms  which  were  rented  for  the  purpose. 
A  few  years  ago  the  committee  in  charge  purchased  two 
substantial  brick  buildings,  well  lighted  and  well  ventilated, 
and  in  every  way  suitable  for  the  work.  These  buildings 
increased  the  confidence  of  the  colored  people  in  our  desire 
to  help  them,  and  since  the  purchase  of  this  property  the 
work  has  increased  in  the  numbers  reached  and  in  efficiency 
of  the  service  rendered. 

Healing  the  Sick. 

"There  has  been  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  past  few 
years  in  the  number  of  our  pupils  who  have  received  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  our  best  physicians  and  surgeons. 
Literally  hundreds  who  have  been  suffering  with  diseases 
of  the  eyes  have  been  treated  and  practically  every  one 
cured.  Many  with  defective  vision  have  been  fitted  with 
glasses,  and  in  most  instances  the  pupils  themselves  have 
paid  for  these  glasses.  In  two  instances  we  found  girls 
in  the  sewing  school  who  had  lost  one  eye  and  were  uncon- 
scious of  their  loss.     The  specialists  who  treated  them  told 


The  Black  Mmi's  Burden  107 

us  had  their  cases  been  neglected  longer  it  would  have  re- 
sulted in  total  blindness.  One  of  these  girls  to-day  stands 
at  the  head  of  our  sewing  school.  A  number  of  wonderful 
and  successful  surgical  operations  have  been  performed. 
The  results  of  these  operations  have  not  been  the  physical 
relief  alone,  but  it  has  also  given  us  new  spiritual  power. 
Many  who  ha\e  been  treated  by  the  physicians  have  later 
united  with  the  church,  and  in  one  or  two  instances  the 
parents  of  children  thus  treated  ha\e  also  been  brought 
into  the  church. 

Consecrated   Workers. 

"The  n:ost  ren^arkai  le  thing  in  connection  wilh  the  whole 
work  is  the  fact  that  white  people  of  this  community  have 
\olunteered  as  teachers.  One  by  one,  m.en  and  women 
from  Presbyterian  and  other  Evangelical  Churches  in  the 
city  have  volunteered  their  services.  Our  sewing  classes 
and  cooking  classes  are  taught  by  white  women  who  have 
volunteered  as  instructors.  Many  of  these  people  rarely 
see  each  other,  because  they  come  on  different  days, 
but  their  hearts  and  services  are  united  in  their  ministry 
to  needy  people.  A  nobler  group  could  not  be  found  in 
the  whole  land  than  our  group  of  eighty-sexen  consecrated 
men  and  women  who  are  cheerfully  donating  their  services. 

Special  Points  of  Interest. 

"(1)  It  is  a  local  work  done  according  to  the  ideas  of  the 
people  of  Louisville.  Many  institutions  for  Negroes  have 
failed  to  attain  the  highest  standard  of  usefulness  because 
they  have  not  the  endorsement  of  the  communit>-  in  which 
they  have  been  established,  but  are  maintained  according 
to  the  ideas  of  a  Board  which  resides  in  some  distant  state. 
The  policy  of  this  work  is  determined  by  the  teachers  who 
are  residents  in  Louisville,  and  it  is  conducted  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  offend  the  white  people. 


108  The  Task  That  Challenges 

"(2)  It  is  supported  largel>-  l)y  money  contributed  in 
Louisville.  The  most  perplexing  question  in  regard  to  the 
whole  work  is  its  financial  support.  At  no  period  in  its 
history  has  there  been  in  the  treasury  a  sufficient  sum  to 
pay  one  month's  expenses.  The  Presbyterian  churches 
in  Louisville  have,  from  time  to  time,  taken  collections,  but 
the  total  amount  recei^'ed  from  churches  is  only  a  small  part 
of  the  amount  necessary  for  its  maintenance.  Most  of  the 
money  comes  from  indi\'iduals,  and  the  larger  part  of  it 
in  very  small  sums.  Several  individuals  contribute  five 
cents  a  month.  Occasionally  a  gift  comes  from  another 
state  and  brings  with  it  an  inspiration  which  is  always 
as  valuable  as  the  gift  itself.  The  official  Boards  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Presbyterian  and  the  German  Re- 
formed  Churches   make   small   annual   appropriations. 

"(3)  It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  that  our  industrial 
work,  our  clubs  and  playgrounds  have  a  strong  spiritual 
influence.  The  first  member  to  come  forward  to  apply 
for  baptism  and  admission  to  the  church  came  from  a  class 
in  cooking.  In  this  cooking  class  I  saw  the  sterling  char- 
acter of  this  girl  and  saw  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  her  of 
her  personal  salvation.  That  night  she  came  forward  to 
unite  with  the  church.  Many  children  have  drifted  into 
the  playground,  and  there  have  become  personally  ac- 
quainted with  our  teachers  and  have  been  led  into  the  Sun- 
day school,  into  the  church  services,  and  later  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross.  One  summer  I  suggested  to  a  theological 
student  that  he  direct  our  playground.  He  objected,  say- 
ing that  he  thought  he  could  do  m.ore  good  by  visiting  in 
the  homes  of  the  community  and  reading  the  Bible  and 
talking  to  them  personall)  .  I  said  to  him  then,  'Leave  the 
moral  responsibilit>-  with  me,  and  take  the  playground 
and  use  it.'  At  the  close  of  the  summer  he  was  frank 
enough  to  admit  that  the  playground  had  given  him  a 
wonderful  influence  over  the  pupils  in  the  Sunday  school 
and  also   when  he  ]ireached  in  the  church.     Most  of  the 


The  Black  Man's  Burden  109 

bo>s  Avho  ha\e  united  with  the  church  ha\e  come  from  our 
classes  in  carpentry  and  our  bo>s'  ckibs. 

Duplicates   ]Va?ited. 

"What  has  been  done  in  a  number  of  other  communities 
in  the  South?  I  am  anxious  to  see  the  da\'  when  our  force 
of  Christian  workers  will  be  more  zealous  in  their  efforts 
for  the  salvation  of  the  Negro,  who  needs  our  help,  our 
sympathy-,  and  our  instruction.  In  Atlanta  a  similar  work 
has  been  organized  by  the  Central  Presbyterian  church. 
They  have  purchased  a  suitable  building,  are  conducting 
a  Sunday  school  and  a  sewing  school,  boys'  and  girls' 
clubs,  and  last  summer  a  Vacation  Bible  School,  where 
hundreds  of  colored  children  were  given  religious  instruc- 
tion and  industrial  training.  In  Richmond,  Virginia, 
Rev.  Murray  Gra}'  organized  another  similar  work.  I  saw 
a  picture  of  his  Sunday  school  when  it  started,  and  another 
picture  six  months  later.  In  the  meantime,  he  had  \  isited 
in  the  homes,  had  opened  a  playground,  organized  boys' 
and  girls'  clubs  and  a  sewing  school.  May  the  day  soon 
come  when  we  have  these  institutions  established  in  hun- 
dreds of  other  cities  in  the  South. 

"Note. — The  Presbyterian  Colored  Missions  in  Louis- 
\ille,  Ky.,  are  under  the  direction  of  a  joint  committee 
appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  U.  S.;  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Louisville,  U.  S.  A.;  the  Kentucky  Classes  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  U.  S.,  and  the  Associate  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church." 

God  and  the  Negro. 

In  His  inscrutable  providence  and  beneficent  wisdom, 
our  heavenly  Father  made  the  distinctions  among  men, 
and  determined  the  bounds  of  their  habitations.  By 
creation  we  are  all  His  children.  No  race  can  preempt 
to  itself  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  The  Negro  can  claim  this 
relationship,  saying,  "Doubtless  thou  art  our  Father,  though 


no  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Abraham  be  ignorant  of  us  and  Israel  acknowledge  us  not." 
Why  He  made  the  black  skin,  and  how  the  differentiation 
began  is  an  enigm.a  as  puzzling  as  the  riddle  of  the  Sphinx. 
"Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay?"  "Shall  not 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  "Judge  not  the  Lord 
by  feeble  sense."  "O  Lord,  how  m.anifold  are  thy  works; 
in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all." 

God  is  sovereign  in  His  ways,  but  not  arbitrary.  He  has 
some  deep  design  and  some  great  purpose  for  the  Negro. 
J.  W.  Johnson,  Negro  poet,  in  the  Semi-Centennial  Ode  of 
Em.ancipation,  sings  courage  to  his  dark  comrades: 

"Far,  far  the  way  that  we  have  trod, 
From  heathen  kraals  and  jungle  dens, 
To  freedmen,  freemen,  sons  of  God, 
Americans  and  citizens. 

"This  hind  is  ours  by  right  of  birth, 
This  hind  is  ours  by  right  of  toil; 
We  helpt^d  to  turn  its  virgin  earth, 
Our  sweat  is  in  its  fruitful  soil. 

"Courage!     Look  out,  beyond,  and  see 
The  far  horizon's  beckoning  span! 
Faith  in  your  God-known  destiny! 
We  are  a  part  of  some  great  plan." 

What  is  to  be  his  destiny?  No  prophet  yet  hath  suffi- 
ciently keen  foresight  to  pierce  the  future  and  give  the 
slightest  hint !  Shall  we  co-operate  with  God  in  the  un- 
folding of  His  plans?  Shall  we  help  the  Negro  in  his  un- 
fortunate handicap  to  work  out  his  destiny?  The  Negro 
is  on  trial  before  the  world's  tribunal.  Will  he  be  able  to 
justify  himself  and  fulfil  a  noble  mission? 

The  white  man,  too,  is  on  trial  before  the  divine  tribunal. 
Will  he  be  able  to  measure  up  to  his  responsibility,  accord- 
ing to  the  divine  dictum:  "P'or  unto  whomsoever  much  is 
given,  of  him  shall  be  much  required."      "Inasmuch  as  ye 


The  Black  Man^s  Burden  111 

have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  If  they  be  Christ's  brethren, 
are  they  ours  also?  Will  any  of  us  knock  at  the  gate  of 
Heaven  and  hear  the  response,  "Ye  shall  not  see  my  face, 
except  your  brother  be  with  you"? 


VI. 

CHURCH  ERECTION. 

General  Scope. 

In  its  widest  scope,  Church  Erection  includes  appropria- 
tions to  assist  in  building  houses  of  worship,  manses, 
academies,  dormitories,  and  mission  chapels  for  the  equip- 
ment of  the  work,  whether  by  special  donation,  or  loans 
from  trust  funds  bequeathed  by  the  sainted  dead,  or  con- 
tributed by  the  living  for  the  purpose.  In  its  restricted 
sense,  it  has  more  direct  reference  to  the  erection  of  houses 
of  worship  for  feeble  churches  in  destitute  or  frontier 
regions. 

As  early  as  1888  the  General  Assembly-  created  this  as  a 
separate  department  of  Home  Missions,  and  ordered  a 
special  collection  in  all  the  churches  to  aid  in  the  erection 
of  houses  of  worship.  At  a  later  date  it  consolidated  this 
agency  with  Assembly's  Home  Missions,  and  made  it  one 
of  the  coordinate  departments  of  the  work. 

Church  Bidlding  a  Problem. 

The  erection  of  a  church  building  is  the  first  problem 
a  Home  missionary  is  compelled  to  face,  when  \olunteering 
as  a  pioneer  for  service  in  the  frontier  on  the  far-flung 
battle  line.  If  he  cannot  stimulate  the  new  organization 
to  "arise  and  build"  under  his  leadership  within  a  reason- 
able time,  his  efforts  in  all  probability  are  foredoomed  to 
failure.  It  is  likewise  the  first  crisis  in  the  life  of  the  new 
church,  and  its  future  development  will  be  determined 
largeh-  b\-  wise  and  courageous  leadership.  If  the  subtle 
suggestion  prevails  of  "waiting  till  the  church  is  strong 
enough  to  build  ajiiore  creditable  edifice,"  in  all  probability 
the  opportunity  will  pass  forever.  To  succeed  in  building, 
howe\'er,  will  not  guarantee  success  in  all  other  respects, 


Church  Erection  113 

for  there  are  always  other  breakers  upon  Avhich  its  young 
Hfe  may  be  wrecked — but  faikire  to  build  will  most  assured- 
ly circumscribe  and  handicap  its  whole  prospect. 

A  colony  of  bees  cannot  sur\i\e,  much  less  make  honey, 
without  a  hive.  Each  church  organization  must  have 
"a  local  habitation,"  or  else  it  will  e\entuall\'  have  onh' 
"a  name  to  li\'e."  The  church  home  is  a  tie  that  binds 
an  ecclesiastical  family  together.  Many  an  organization 
has  died  simpl}-  from  the  lack  of  it,  while  others  survived 
and  grew  chiefh'  because  they  had  an  investment  which 
could  not  well  be  abandoned,  and  which  served  as  a  rally- 
ing point  to  hold  the  nucleus  together,  as  well  as  to  conserve 
new  material  that  otherwise  Mould  have  scattered. 

The  growth  of  a  new  church  depends,  therefore,  under 
the  blessing  of  God,  chiefh"  upon  two  factors:  first,  the  ser- 
vice of  an  active  pastor,  and  next  upon  the  erection  of  a 
house  of  worship  suitable  to  its  needs.  The  lack  of  either 
factor  in  the  critical  period  of  its  organic  life  is  ordinarily 
fatal.  Borrowing  the  building  of  a  sister  denomination, 
the  use  of  a  schoolhouse,  or  renting  a  public  hall,  are  tem- 
porary expedients  which  may  be  used  to  advantage  for  a 
reasonable  period,  but  eventually  the  organisation  faces 
the  question  of  either  building  or  else  disbanding.  Years 
ago  Bishop  McTyeire  of  the  Methodist  Church  warned  his 
denomination  that  its  homeless  churches  could  not  afford 
to  be  "tenants  at  will,"  but  must  become  freeholders  in 
order  to  prosper. 

Mohammedanism  Declining. 

It  is  claimed  by  competent  investigators  that  Mo- 
hammedanism is  dying,  because  it  is  no  longer  building 
additional  mosques.  The  Editor  of  the  London  Times,  a 
few  years  ago  sent  his  leading  correspondent  to  the  Orient 
to  study  Islamism.  He  was  to  visit  all  their  leading  cities 
for  five  years.  When  this  investigator  returned  to  London 
the  Lord  Mayor  gave  him  a  great  banquet  to  which  the 


114  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Lords  and  Peers  of  England  were  invited,  together  with  the 
business  men,  professional  men,  and  churchmen  of  London. 
At  the  banquet  this  reporter  was  asked  to  respond  to  the 
toast,  "Moslem ism."  He  began  his  address  by  saying, 
"Gentlemen,  Moslemism  is  dying.  If  you  want  to  know 
why  I  say  this,  let  me  tell  you  that  in  all  my  travels  through- 
out the  Orient  -vvhere  Moslems  are  most  numerous,  I  found 
that  they  were  building  no  new  mosques,  neither  were  they 
repairing  their  old  ones.  A  religious  body  that  does  not 
build,  dies." 

The  Test  of  Denominational  Aggressiveness. 

The  ratio  of  church  building  is  perhaps  the  best  test  of 
the  aggressiveness  and  development  of  a  denomination. 
It  m.atters  not  what  may  have  been  its  history  or  its  rapid 
growth  in  the  past,  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  promote  church 
erection  it  sounds  its  own  death  knell,  and  it  will  require 
no  prophetic  hand  to  write  "Ichabod"  on  its  walls.  The 
church  fathers  were  wise  in  their  day  and  generation  in  de- 
vising plans  for  encouraging  church  building  schemes.  A 
small  investment  of  a  few  hundred  dollars  to-day  will  pay 
handsome  dividends  in  the  future.  "Churches  unassisted 
mean  churches  unassisting;  but  churches  helped  to-day 
mean  churches  helping  tomorrow.  Homeless  churches 
mean  Christless  homes." 

The  objection  that  occasionally  some  building  is  aban- 
doned, which  once  housed  a  promising  organization,  is 
superficial  and  unworthy.  In  the  natural  world  not  all 
the  blooms  of  a  tree  come  to  perfection  in  ripened  fruit. 
Not  every  healthy  child  develops  into  full  grown  manhood. 
Who  can  forecast  the  future  of  any  new  organization — 
whether  promising  or  unpromising?  God  alone  holds  the 
future  and  guides  the  destinies  of  individuals  and  the 
growth  of  organizations.  The  individual  or  organization 
that  hesitates  at  the  psychological  moment  is  lost. 

The  philosophy  of  Solomon  is  as  wise  as  it  is  ancient, 


Church  Erect  ion  115 

and  equalh-  true  in  all  ages,  whieh  is  "summarily  compre- 
hended" in  the  dictum  of  inspiration:  "Cast  thy  bread 
upon  the  waters — for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days 
He  that  obser\eth  the  wind  shall  not  sow;  and 
he  that  regardeth  the  clouds  shall  not  reap  .  .  .  In 
the  morning  sow  thy  seed,  and  in  the  evening  withhold 
not  th\-  hand.  For  thou  knowest  not  whether  shall  pros- 
per either  this  or  that,  or  whether  they  both  shall  be  alike 
good . ' ' 

This  truth  obtains  alike  in  the  natural  and  in  the  spiritual 
realm.  The  Home  Mission  Committee  builds  the  inex- 
pensive church  to-day;  and  the  congregation  itself  will  per- 
haps rear  its  magnificent  structure  in  the  future,  becoming 
the  mother  of  churches  and  contributing  to  the  erection 
of  other  edifices  as  the  years  go  by.  It  may  be  that  occa- 
sionally church  erection  funds  will  be  scattered  upon  barren 
soil,  but  in  most  instances  it  will  bear  fruit,  "some  thirty, 
some  sixty,  and  some  an  hundred  fold." 

Church  Erection  Loans. 

It  is  not  always  wise  to  assist  a  church  building  by  dona- 
tion simply.  Loans  wisely  bestowed  will  frequently  yield 
better  results  than  donations.  The  encouragement  af- 
forded by  means  of  a  small  donation,  and  the  promise  of  a 
loan  at  a  nominal  rate  of  interest,  will  develop  the  life  of 
the  local  church  by  stimulating  to  self-support.  The  strug- 
gle to  pay  a  church  loan  is  frequently  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
The  gift  of  a  handsome  new  building  would  be  a  curse  to 
many  a  community.  A  loan  both  encourages  and  holds 
l)efore  it  a  goal  in  the  form  of  freeing  itself  from  debt, 
which  is  often  the  very  making  of  the  church. 

The  Avisdom  and  benefits  of  a  Loan  Fund  are  recognized 
by  all  the  larger  denominations.  The  Building  Fund  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  \j .  S.  A.,  exceeds  five  million 
dollars,  which  enables  that  branch  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  enter  and  take  possession  of  any  strategic  point. 


116  The  Task  That  Challenges 

in  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  in  the  prose- 
cution of  its  denominational  plans.  The  Congregational 
Church  has  accumulated  $4,600,000.  The  German  Re- 
formed Church  has  a  Building  and  Loan  Fund  of  $500,000, 
consisting  largely  of  "Memorials."  The  Dutch  Reformed 
has  accumulated  a  similar  fund  of  $130,000.  The  Dis- 
ciples have  a  Permanent  Loan  Fund  of  $1,800,000;  The 
Lutheran,  $1,600,000;  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  $800,000; 
the  Northern  Methodists,  $11,000,000;  the  Southern  Meth- 
odists have  expended  $3,700,000  in  building,  and  possess 
a  permanent  fund  for  the  purpose  amounting,  as  a  working 
capital,  to  $804,629.  The  Southern  Baptists  have  only 
within  the  past  few  years  inaugurated  a  movement  for 
acquiring  a  Building  Fund  of  $1,000,000,  and  under  the 
efficient  leadership  of  their  Secretary,  Rev.  L.  B.  Warren, 
have  already  secured  $160,000  and  are  reasonably  sure  of 
their  final  goal. 

Presbyterian  Church,    U.  S. 

In  striking  contrast,  our  own  Church  has  but  an  in- 
significant fund,  aggregating  less  than  $30,000,  which  places 
it  at  great  disadvantage  in  occupying  strategic  centers 
where  church  buildings  are  absolutely  necessary,  and  yet 
where  we  are  largely  overshadowed  and  completely  out- 
classed in  generous  rivalry  with  others.  Small,  however, 
as  are  our  funds  for  church  erection,  under  careful  manage- 
ment they  have  accomplished  such  marvelous  things  as 
to  read  like  a  romance;  and  we  are  not  ashamed  to  com- 
pare records  as  to  results  with  any,  in  proportion  to  capital 
invested. 

The  Moore  Loan  Fund. 

Twenty-three  years  ago  Mr.  W.  A.  Moore,  an  honored 
elder  in  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Atlanta,  and  for 
years  a  valued  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
Home  Missions,   left  a  legacy  of  $5,000   to  be  loaned   in 


Church  Erection  1 1 7 

small  sums  at  3  per  cent,  interest,  for  the  purpose  of  assist- 
ing feeble  churches  in  building  houses  of  worship.  During 
this  period  it  has  aided  80  churches  in  building,  and  has 
been  so  carefully  managed  that  not  a  dollar  has  been  lost, 
but  instead  the  principal  has  slowly  increased  until  the  fund 
is  now  valued  at  $6,000.  If  each  church  aided  averaged 
$2,500  in  value,  it  has  promoted  during  these  years  the 
erection  of  church  buildings  whose  united  property  aggre- 
gates at  least  $200,000.  The  end  is  not  yet,  for  its  useful- 
ness increases  with  age.  If  this  $5,000  fund  has  promoted 
in  23  years  the  erection  of  80  churches,  how  many  will  it 
likewise  bless  by  the  time  its  centennial  is  celebrated! 
What  a  noble  monument  honors  his  blessed  memory! 
"He  builded  better  than  he  knew."  His  true  monument 
is  not  the  stone  that  marks  the  resting  place  of  his  sacred 
dust  among  the  dead,  but  these  80  churches  among  the 
living,  scattered  throughout  our  bounds  from  Maryland 
to  New  Mexico. 

The  Manse  Building  Fund. 

This  illustrious  example  suggested  the  advisability  of 
accumulating  a  similar  fund  to  assist  weak  congregations 
in  securing  manses  for  their  pastors.  An  appeal  was 
accordingly  made  to  a  few  friends,  which  resulted  in  raising 
$4,200.  In  the  past  ten  years  this  fund  has  aided  in  build- 
ing 30  manses  and  has  increased  in  value  to  $5,000.  Esti- 
mating the  average  value  of  each  manse  at  $3,000,  it  repre- 
sents property  to-day  in  the  service  of  the  Church  worth 
at  least  $90,000.  It  is  like  bread  cast  upon  the  waters, 
which  is  continually  returning  to  become  a  blessing  to  new 
communities.  Like  radium  which  continualls'  gives  off 
its  beneficent  influences  without  loss  to  itself,  so  this  fund 
will  go  on  forever,  blessing  others  without  diminishing 
the  original  amount.  The  possession  of  a  manse  has  been 
the  determining  factor  in  many  cases  that  enabled  a  weak 
church  to  obtain  and  hold  the  services  of  a  pastor.     Genera- 


118  The  Task  That  Challenges 

tions  3'et  unborn  will  be  blessed  through  the  instrumentality 
of  this  splendid  beneficence. 

Semi-Centenuial  Building  Fund. 

On  December  4,  1911,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S. 
reached  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  separate  existence. 
From  43  Presbyteries,  1,000  churches  and  75,000  com- 
municants, it  has  increased  during  these  fifty  years  to  87 
Presbyteries,  1,725  ministers,  3,375  churches  and  300,000 
communicants.  In  the  half  century  of  its  corporate  life, 
it  has  contributed  in  round  numbers  $6,000,000  each  to 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions.  Its  annual  contributions 
to  all  purposes  reached  the  sum  of  $4,000,000  in  1911. 
which  still  further  increased  during  the  past  six  years, 
amounting  now  to  $5,000,000  annually.  Its  Home  Mis- 
sion operations  are  now  co-extensive  with  its  1 7  Synods, 
and  its  Foreign  Mission  Work  extends  to  sections  of  four 
continents,  the  annual  income  for  these  two  causes  alone 
amounting  to  $1,000,000. 

In  order  to  commemorate  in  a  worthy  and  substantial 
w^ay  the  semi-centennial  and  growth  of  the  Church,  the 
Presbytery  of  Montgomery,  in  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  over- 
tured  the  General  Assembly  to  raise  a  Semi-Centennial 
Building  and  Loan  Fund  of  $100,000.  The  Assembly 
heartily  and  unanimously  approved,  and  authorized  the 
Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  to  conduct  a 
campaign  for  this  purpose.  During  the  six  years  which 
have  elapsed  since  that  time,  notwithstanding  various  and 
unexpected  obstacles,  about  $20,000  have  been  paid  in 
and  have  alreeidy  started  on  a  career  of  church  building. 
Subscriptions  and  legacies  not  yet  available  approximate 
$25,000,  while  one  generous  giver  promises  vS  10,000  eis  soon 
as  the  task  is  completed,  which  is  now  nearly  half  accom- 
plished. In  the  meantime  the  urgency  of  the  need  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  that  applications  for  loans  now  on  file 
in  the  Home  Mission  office  aggregate  $100,000. 


Church  Erection  119 

Safeguards. 

In  order  to  protect  the  Church  against  loss,  the  follow- 
ing safeguards  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  have  been 
thrown  around  these  Trust  Funds,  so  that  it  becomes  al- 
most impossible  for  an>'  part  to  be  ever  entirely  lost. 

"Ordinarily  no  grant  or  loan  for  church  erection  shall  be 
made  to  any  congregation  unless  such  congregation  own 
in  fee  simple,  and  free  from  all  encumbrance,  the  lot  on 
which  their  house  of  worship  is  situated,  or  on  which  they 
propose  to  build;  provided,  however,  that  in  case  a  church 
is  building  upon  leased  property,  the  Committee,  at  it 
discretion  in  extraordinary  cases,  may  make  such  grant  or 
loan,  taking  such  precautions  by  the  way  of  security  or 
otherwise  as  will  protect  the  Church  therein. 

"The  appropriation,  whether  grant  or  loan,  is  subject  to 
the  following  conditions,  to-wit:  That  in  case  the  church  or 
congregation  shall  cease  to  be  connected  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 
or  their  house  of  worship  be  alienated,  except  for  the  build- 
ing or  purchase  of  a  better  house  of  worship,  they  shall  re- 
fund to  the  Committee  the  amount  they  have  so  received- 

"When  the  appropriation  is  a  loan  (then  unless  other 
satisfactory  security  be  accepted)  a  mortgage  upon  the 
church  property,  duly  executed  and  acknowledged  by  the 
church,  through  their  legally  appointed  representatives, 
and  recorded  in  the  county  clerk's  or  recorder's  office,  shall 
be  returned  to  the  Committee  with  a  certificate  endorsed 
thereon  by  an  attorney  at  law,  designated  by  the  Presby- 
tery or  its  Home  Mission  Committee,  to  the  effect  that  the 
church  has  a  valid  title  to  the  property  and  full  power  to 
mortgage  the  same,  and  that  said  mortgage  is  a  first  lien 
upon  said  property,  and  has  been  executed,  acknowledged 
and  recorded,  according  to  law." 


120  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Memorial  Funds. 

In  order  to  encourage  the  completion  of  the  Semi- 
centennial Fund,  as  well  as  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
good  deeds,  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions 
consented  to  allow  any  donor  contributing  as  much  as  $500 
the  privilege  of  naming  a  "Memorial  Fund."  The  musk 
bean,  which  is  said  to  be  the  basis  of  most  perfumes,  will 
exhale  its  pungent  odor  for  a  century,  and  yet  is  never 
diminished.  In  like  manner  the  fragrance  of  a  noble  deed 
will  perpetuate  itself  forever. 

Christ  himself  approved  of  perpetuating  the  memory  of 
a  good  deed.  Of  the  woman  who  anointed  him  with  the 
precious  spikenard,  he  said:  "Wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall 
be  preached  throughout  the  whole  world,  this  also  that 
she  hath  done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her." 
Hers  is  a  monument  more  precious  than  diamond,  more 
enduring  than  brass,  as  imperishable  as  the  everlasting 
Gospel.  The  Parthenon  at  Athens  is  destroyed,  the  Coli- 
seum at  Rome  is  in  ruins,  the  Alhambra  in  Spain  is 
crumbling,  but  the  monument  of  this  woman  will  stand 
when  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  are  scattered  by  the  winds  of 
the  desert. 

Worthy  Ambition. 

The  Board  of  Church  Erection  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  South,  in  eloquent  language  pleads  the  value 
of  Memorial  Loan  Funds: 

"Next  to  the  longing  for  immortalit>',  which  God  Him- 
self has  planted  in  every  human  breast,  is  a  desire  to  per- 
petuate our  own  names  or  the  names  of  those  we  love  and 
honor.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt;  the  statues,  arches  and 
columns  of  Rome;  the  splendid  temples  of  Greece;  the  in- 
comparable mausoleums  of  India,  all  testify  to  the  strength 
and  universality  of  this  desire.  But  the  efforts  of  men  to 
defy   the  universal   law  of  decay   and   forgetfulness   have 


Church  Erection  121 

been  in  vain.  Memorials  of  stone  and  brass  enter  upon  a 
career  of  disintegration  from  the  moment  they  are  finished 
and  set  up.  Wind  and  rain,  the  changing  seasons,  earth- 
quakes and  storms,  fire  and  vandal  hands  are  the  common 
enemies  of  all.  The  most  sanguine  builder  of  monuments 
has  never  yet  produced  a  memorial,  which  would  either 
withstand  the  ravages  of  time,  or  increase  in  strength  and 
beauty  as  the  years  go  by.  Preservation  is  all  that  is 
ever  hoped  for,  and  that  only  wnth  unremitting  care  and 
attention  on  the  part  of  the  generations  following,  and  even 
then  but  in  a  partial  sense. 

"It  is  the  distinction  and  glory  of  our  Memorial  Loan 
Funds  that  they  are  strong  at  every  point  where  other 
monuments  are  weak.  Here  is  something  of  a  material 
nature,  that  has  in  it  the  qualit}'  of  life.  It  is  a  perpetual 
source  of  benefaction,  an  active,  perpetual  and  perpetuating 
force  for  good  of  the  very  highest  type.  The  Loan  Fund 
goes  forth  on  errands  of  mercy  and  helpfulness,  to  serve 
mankind  in  such  a  wa>'  as  to  bring  humanity  into  com- 
munion with  God  and  our  Saviour,  and  returns  with  in- 
creased power  for  usefulness. 

"The  activity  and  usefulness  of  these  funds  are  beauti- 
fully illustrated  by  Bishop  H.  C  Morrison:  'It  never  w^earies 
in  well  doing.  Ever  giving,  yet  never  exhausted;  toiling 
ever,  yet  never  tired;  a  sort  of  everlasting  benediction;  an 
immortal  Good  Samaritan,  with  wine  and  oil  and  bandages 
for  the  bleeding  and  helpless  churches  of  the  land.  Going 
to  the  West,  it  fortifies  a  point;  returning  to  the  East,  it 
repairs  a  breach  in  the  w'all.  It  leaves  joy  and  gladness 
in  its  pathway.  It  is  a  sort  of  financial  angel  flying  through 
mid-heaven  preaching  the  everlasting  Gospel.  Every 
dollar  that  goes  into  its  treasury  becomes  imperishable. 
It  lives  for  all  time,  and  lives  for  God.  If  you  would 
make  your  money  immortal,  cast  it  here.  It  will  work  on 
and  on  after  you  have  ceased  to  work,  and  will  come  to  you 
with  exceeding  increase  in  eternity.'  " 


122  The  Task  That  Challenges 

L  it  era  ry  A  sp  ira  t  ion . 

Horace  boasted  of  his  immortalit>':  "I  shall  not  entirely 
die.  I  have  reared  a  monument  more  enduring  than 
brass."  Multitudes  since,  whether  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, by  literary  achievement,  scientific  discovery,  or 
heroic  deed,  have  rendered  their  names  immortal.  Wh\- 
not  accomplish  the  same  honorable  end  by  still  worthier 
means.  A  Memorial  Fund  will  live  forever,  and  the  monu- 
ment will  grow  in  importance  as  church  after  church  rears 
its  spire  heavenward  and  adds  to  the  number  of  the  noble 
benefactions.  Everything  else  crumbles  and  decays,  but 
this  kind  projects  itself  into  eternity. 

What  Kind  of  a  Monument? 

A  sculptor  proposes,  at  the  enormous  cost  of  one  million 
dollars,  to  carve  Stone  Mountain,  near  Atlanta,  into  a 
gigantic  memorial  in  honor  of  the  Confederacy.  It  is  a 
noble  cause,  precious  as  life  itself  to  many  thousands  of 
patriotic  citizens,  but  it  would  be  a  magnificent  monument 
to  the  dead.  A  Memorial  Fund  of  $5,000,  according  to 
the  estimate  of  Dr.  L.  B.  Warren,  Secretary  of  Church  Ex- 
tension of  the  Southern  Baptist  Church,  in  one  generation 
would  build  60  churches,  increase  to  $30,587,  and  pro- 
mote church  extension  work  equivalent  to  $150,000.  Which 
monument  will  please  the  Master  better,  living  churches 
or  silent  stone?  "There  is  more  joy  in  heaven  over  one 
church  builded  in  his  name,  than  over  ninety  and  nine 
marble  monuments  that  need  not  to  have  been  built." 
The  stone  discolors  and  disintegrates  by  the  corroding 
tooth  of  time,  but  every  church  built  will  proclaim  through- 
out the  ages  the  Gospel  of  the  blessed  Son  of  God  and  the 
gracious  love  of  God  for  a  lost  world.  The  dead  stone 
points  backward  to  the  silent  past.  The  living  Church 
faces  the  momentous  future  with  its  eternal  issues  of 
achievement  and  glorious  reward. 


Church  Erection 


123 


A  MEMORIAL  LOAN  FUND  IS  MORE  THAN  A  MEMORIAL; 

IT  WORKS  FOREVER 

FOR  GOD  AND  FOR  HUMANITY. 


IS  THIS 

THE  KIND  OF 

MONUMENT 

YOU    DESIRE? 


OR  THIS? 


"I  have  built  a  house  of  habitation  for  Thee. 


124  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Form  of  Subscription. 

For  those  who  are  wilhng  to  subscribe  to  a  Memorial 
Fund  or  any  part  of  one,  the  following  form  is  suggested: 

In  order  to  complete  the  $100,000  Semi-Centennial  Building  Loan 
Fund  authorized  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  to  be  administered  by 
tlie  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States, 

1,000  per  year years 

500  per  year years 

400  per  year years 

1  will  give  <j        300  per  year years 

200  per  year years 

100  per  year years 

.  .  .   per  j^ear years 

(//  so  designated,  sums  of  $600  or  more  will  he  held  as  a  "Memorial 
ttmd,"  to  bear  the  name  of  the  donor,  or  of  one  whose  memory  it  is  de- 
sired to  honor.) 

Name 

Date Address 


Remittances    Should    be    Made    to   A.    N.    SHARP,    Tueasuker, 
1522  Hurt  Building,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


THE  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  BUILDING  LOAN  FUND. 

(This  form  is  intended  for  one  who  wants  to  leave  a  part  of  his  estate  for 
Home  Missions.) 


In  consideration  of  the  benefits  received  by  me  as  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  I  hereby  promise  to  pay  to 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  the  sum  of 

dollars  for  the  Semi-Centennial  Building  Loan  Fund  authorized  by  the 
General  Assembly;  said  sum  to  be  due  and  payable  in  one  year  from 
the  date  of  my  death,  without  interest;  and  I  hereby  direct  and  empower 
my  executor  or  administrator  to  pay  the  sum  out  of  my  estate. 


Church  Erection:  125 


Witness  my  hand  and  seal  this day  of . 

A.  D 


Signed  in  presence  of 


(The  Committee  will  hold  sums  of  $'jOO  or  more  as  Memorial  Funds.) 

This  note  should  be  sent  to  A.  N.  Sharp,  Treasurer,  1522  Hurt  Build- 
ing, Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  Annuity  Plan. 

Many  persons  devoted  to  the  traditions  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  willing  to  make  noble  sacrifices  calcu- 
lated to  contribute  to  its  substantial  growth,  are  neverthe- 
less hindered  in  their  noble  aspirations  and  handicapped  by 
their  environment.  Advancing  years  limit  their  earning 
capacity,  and  their  income  is  perhaps  derived  from  small 
invested  capital,  often  in  constant  danger  of  being  swept 
away  by  bank  failures  or  depreciation  in  stock  values. 
For  such,  an  annuity  plan  is  provided,  whereby  a  regular 
income  is  guaranteed,  their  investment  rendered  abso- 
lutely safe,  while  they  themselves  enjoy  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  their  investment  paying  splendid  dividends  in 
the  sphere  of  church  erection. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  will  re- 
ceive varying  amounts  upon  which  interest  will  be  paid, 
at  a  fixed  rate,  during  the  entire  life  of  the  donor;  and  this 
money  will  be  loaned  to  feeble  churches  to  assist  them  in 
securing  suitable  houses  of  worship.  The  money  thus 
accomplishes  a  two-fold  purpose.  It  not  onh'  supports 
the  annuitant  in  old  age,  but  it  likewise  supports  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  and  will  continue  to  increase  its  benefactions 
long  after  the  donor  has  gone  to  a  blessed  reward. 

It  is  perhaps  the  only  investment  absoluteK'  safe  in  this 
world  where  "riches  take  to  themselves  wings,  and  fl\' 
away  as  an  eagle  toward  heaven."     The  assets  of  the  Ex- 


126  The  Task  That  Challenges 

ecutive  Committee  of  Home  Missions  and  the  honor  of  the 
Presbyter'an  Church  make  the  investment  as  secure  as 
government  bonds.  Upon  request,  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  Home  Missions  will  furnish  information  and  the 
details  of  the  plan  to  an\-  one  interested  in  a  permanent 
and  safe  investment  which  will  pay  dividends  both  to  the 
donor  and  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

Equipment  Needed. 

Beyond  all  question,  the  greatest  pressing  need  of  the 
expanding  work  of  Home  Missions  at  present  is  an  adequate 
equipment  of  houses  of  worship,  mission  schools  and  in- 
stitutional buildings.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  there 
are  275  homeless  churches  connected  with  our  denomina- 
tion, for  whom  we  must  either  build  speedily  or  stand  by 
and  see  them  dissolve  and  scatter  for  the  lack  of  a  few  hun- 
dred dollars  to  assist  them  with  a  timely  loan.  There  are 
also  250  places  clamoring  for  organization,  where  we  could 
build  up  congregations  if  we  could  promise  the  necessary 
assistance. 

In  our  great  cities  where  we  are  carrying  on  work  among 
the  foreigners,  the  Ijest  results  are  not  conserved  i^ecause 
the  missionaries  have  no  buildings  in  which  to  house  their 
growing  membership.  The  Church  cannot  expect  ade- 
quate results  so  long  as  it  compels  its  missionaries  to  at- 
tempt to  "allure  to  better  worlds  and  lead  the  wax"  in 
old,  dilapidated  rented  buildings.  As  well  expect  a  fac- 
tory to  pas'  dividends  with  antiquated  machiner>-.  As 
well  expect  the  farm  to  be  productive  without  proper 
agricultural    implements. 

A  Building  Fund  is  a  denominational  necessity-;  the  great- 
est need  of  our  Church  to-day.  It  is  impossible  to  do  a 
successful  missionary  work  without  some  means  with  which 
to  assist  our  faithful  missionaries  in  securing  houses  of 
worship  for  their  feeble  congregations. 


Church  Erection  127 

A  prominent  New  York  banker  recently  said:  "I  know 
something  of  investments,  and  in  the  whole  range  of  benevo- 
lences I  know  nothing  so  definite,  so  sure,  so  permanently 
productive,  as  a  gift  which  secures  the  erection  of  a  church 
in  the  heart  of  this  continent,  where,  with  its  renewals,  it 
will  stand  for  ages  and  be  a  blessing  to  thousands  unborn." 

"The  inadequate  gift  is  a  wasted  gift."  Will  the  Church 
expect  our  missionaries  to  "make  brick  without  straw,"  or 
will  she  furnish  the  equipment  that  guarantees  and  renders 
effective  its  present  investments  of  means  and  sacrificial 
lives? 


VII. 

MISSION  SCHOOLS. 

One  of  our  poets  with  penetrating  vision  emphasizes 
in  a  striking  couplet  the  mutual  benefit  and  intimate  re- 
lation between  church  and  school,  saying  of  any  country: 

"She  dreads  no  skeptic's  puny  hands 
While  near  her  school  the  church  spire  stands; 
Nor  fears  the  blinded  bigot's  rule 
While  near  her  church  spire  stands  the  school." 

Christ  and  the  Child. 

"Is  it  well  with  the  child?"  This  sympathetic  inquiry 
of  Israel's  great  prophet,  addressed  to  an  anxious  mother, 
is  the  pertinent  question  of  the  ages.  One  greater  than 
Elisha  taught  the  world  the  worth  of  a  child.  He  who 
gathered  the  children  in  his  loving  arms  and  placed  his 
gentle  hands  in  benediction  upon  them,  saying,  "Suffer 
the  little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  laid  eternal  obliga- 
tion upon  his  church  to  transmit  his  blessing  to  future 
generations  in  the  command,  "Feed  my  lambs."  He  has 
no  human  arms  with  which  to  embrace  the  children  to- 
day, except  the  arms  of  his  church.  Through  the  instru- 
mentality of  Christian  homes.  Sabbath  and  Mission 
schools,  Christ  is  still  laying  his  hands  in  benediction 
upon  the  children  of  to-day,  and  will  continue  through  the 
same  agency  to  reach  the  generations  >et  unborn. 

The  Kim^dom  and  the  Child. 

"Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  is  capable  of  a 
a  two-fold  significance.     Doubtless  it  does  commend   the 


Mission  Schools  129 

child-like  character  as  a  type  pertaining  to  the  heavenly 
Kingdom;  but  does  it  not  also  imply  that  children  are  the 
material  out  of  which  the  Kingdom  is  builded?  Statistics 
show  that  additions  to  the  church  increase  in  percentage 
till  the  age  of  sixteen  is  reached,  and  then  decline  after 
that  period  in  the  same  proportion.  Take  heed  to  the 
child,  and  the  Kingdom  will  take  care  of  itself. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Child. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  said:  "The  hand  that  rocks  the 
cradle  is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world."  With  equal 
propriety  it  might  be  affirmed,  the  Church  that  trains  the 
child,  holds  the  future.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  being 
asked  how  early  the  training  of  a  child  should  begin,  an- 
swered, "One  hundred  years  before  it  is  born."  David 
Hume  boasted  that  if  he  were  given  the  training  of  a  child 
for  the  first  seven  years  of  its  life,  he  could  so  implant  the 
principles  of  skepticism  in  its  mind  as  to  be  forever  in- 
eradicable. The  wisest  of  men,  under  the  guidance  of 
inspiration,  advises,  "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  Judaism 
to-day,  practically  without  a  Sabbath,  without  a  sanctuary, 
and  with  but  little  influence  of  the  rabbi,  holds  tenaciously 
to  its  faith,  largely  because  it  is  a  family  religion,  and  dili- 
gently instructs  the  children  in  its  peculiar  ordinances  and 
ceremonies.  Rome  knows  the  value  of  a  child,  and  seeks 
by  parochial  school,  by  orphanage  and  by  ceremonial 
observances,  to  get  first  possession  of  its  youth. 

The  substantial  growth  and  world-wide  influence  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  past  has  been  largely  due  to 
the  emphasis  which  it  has  always  placed  upon  the  family 
and  the  school;  and  the  unit  in  both  factors  is  the  child. 
The  most  distinctive  feature  characteristic  of  this  Church 
has  been  the  importance  which  it  has  always  attached  to 
child-training  in  the  home,  and  to  Christian  education. 


130  The  Task  That  Challenges 

An  Adjunct  to  Christianity. 

Education  may  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  daughter 
of  the  Church ;  or  at  least  a  handmaiden  of  religion.  Evan- 
gelism must  be  recognized  unquestionably  as  the  chief 
business  of  the  Church,  but  whatever  is  contributory  to 
that  end  is  more  than  legitimate;  and  the  usefulness  of 
education  as  such  an  adjunct  cannot  for  a  moment  be  called 
in  question.  In  one  sense  it  is  not  simply  justifiable  but 
essential.  Evangelism  may  be  somewhat  evanescent  and 
its  larger  benefits  dissipated,  if  unaccompanied  by  the 
educational  training  calculated  to  conserve  permanent  re- 
sults. The  command,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  is  supplemented  and  elabo- 
rated by  the  injunction,  "Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all 
Nations."  Both  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Mission  school 
has  not  simply  been  the  most  practical  and  efficient  means 
of  obeying  this  injunction,  but  has  also  been  the  "open 
sesame,"  to  many  homes  and  hearts  which  hitherto  had 
been  successfully  and  effectually  closed  to  all  approach. 

In  the  Boulac  Museum  at  Cairo,  Egypt,  the  tourist 
looks  upon  the  stern  features  of  Rameses  II,  the  Pharaoh 
of  the  oppression,  resting  in  his  glass  case,  a  shriveled 
mummy!  Near  him  reposes  another,  labeled  "Pharaoh's 
daughter."  He  overran  the  world  with  his  armies,  erected 
everywhere  gigantic  statues  of  himself  and  boastful  monu- 
ments to  commemorate  his  victories,  and  is  identified  by 
some  as  "Sesostris  the  Great,"  and  by  others  as  the  builder 
of  the  Pyramids  by  means  of  Hebrew  slave  labor,  under 
the  lash  of  the  Egyptian  taskmasters.  Egypt  to-day  is 
full  of  the  broken  fragments  of  his  greatness;  his  statues 
are  lying  in  the  dust,  or  filling  a  place  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, his  crumbling  tenement  of  clay  an  object  of  curiosity 
to  the  tourist  and  himself  an  enigma  to  the  historian. 
His  daughter,  lying  in  the  sarcophagus  near-by,  built  no 
pyramid  and  left  no  monument  to  her  memory,  but  with 
the  generous  instinct  of  a  woman  she  rescued  a  castaway 


Mission  Scliools  131 

babe  from  the  bulrushes  of  the  Nile  and  trained  him  for 
his  life  work.  That  babe  left  his  impress,  as  Jewish  law- 
giver, not  simply  upon  one  nation  and  generation,  but 
after  more  than  three  millenniums  he  still  shapes  the  legis- 
lation of  the  world;  and  no  parliament  of  earth  in  this 
Twentieth  Century  would  dare  enact  a  law  contrary  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  justice  embodied  in  the  Penta- 
teuch; and  Moses  is  rivaled  only  by  Paul  as  the  greatest 
of  human  school-masters.  In  Rome  is  exhibited  the  great 
statue  of  Moses  by  Michael  Angelo,  the  sculptor's  gift 
to  the  world  as  a  masterpiece  of  art;  but  the  original  Moses, 
the  masterpiece  of  scholarship,  "learned  in  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians,"  is  the  gift  to  the  world  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter. 

"He  built  a  house;  time  laid  it  in  the  dust; 
He  wrote  a  book;  its  title  is  forgot; 
He  ruled  a  city;  but  his  name  is  not 
On  any  tablet  graven,  or  where  rust 
Can  gather  from  disuse,  or  marble  bust. 
He  took  a  child  from  out  a  wretched  cot. 
Who  on  the  State  dishonor  might  have  brought, 
And  reared  him  to  the  Christian's  hope  and  trust. 
The  boy,  to  manhood  grown,  became  a  light 
To  many  souls,  preached  for  human  need 
The  wondrous  love  of  the  Omnipotent. 
His  work  has  multiplied  like  stars  at  night 
When  darkness  deepens.     Every  noble  deed 
Lasts  longer  than  a  granite  monument." 

Educational  Leadership. 

Accomplished  largely  through  the  instrumentality  of 
its  Mission  schools,  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  char- 
acterized by  intelligent  membership  and  trained  leader- 
ship, which  have  made  it  the  educative  denomination  of 
Christendom,  a  fact  well-nigh  universally  admitted. 

Its  rigid  standards  and  uncompromising  Calvinism  have 
prevented  it  from  securing  popular  hold  upon  the  masses; 


132  The  Task  That  Challenges 

and  its  membership  roll  for  this  reason  will  not  measure  in 
length  with  some  others,  but  it  has  gradually  elevated  the 
common  standard  of  education  and  of  Christian  living. 
It  has  led  most,  if  not  all,  denominations  in  the  fight  for 
constitutional  liberty,  in  per  capita  for  benevolences,  in 
Foreign  Missions,  and  in  support  of  great  undenomina- 
tional enterprises,  such  as  the  Bible  cause,  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  and  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

No  man  in  the  Church  is  more  qualified  to  speak  on  this 
subject  than  Dr.  W.  W.  Moore,  President  of  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Richmond,  Va.,  who  asserts:  "The  Pres- 
byterian Church  was  once  the  greatest  educational  force 
in  this  country.  She  is  still  a  great  educational  factor,  but 
she  has  lost  her  primacy.  Other  denominations  have  of 
late  outstripped  her.  We  rejoice  in  their  progress,  but  it  is 
to  our  discredit  that  latterly  we  have  not  shown  equal  wis- 
dom, zeal  and  enterprise.  We  have  forfeited  the  leading 
place  in  education  which  was  once  indisputably  ours.  W^e 
have  not  kept  abreast  of  some  of  our  sister  churches.  We 
have  made  some  progress,  but  relatively  we  have  fallen  be- 
hind. That  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  bring  up 
the  rear  of  the  procession  in  educational  work  is  an  anomah" 
not  to  be  endured.  Her  place  is  at  the  head  of  the  column. 
We  therefore  welcome  the  signs  of  the  awakening  of  our 
people  on  this  subject.  Their  thorough  awakening  is  all 
that  is  needed  to  guarantee  the  recovery  of  our  primacy 
in  education.  We  believe  that  we  still  have  the  most 
thoroughly-  educated  ministry.  \\'e  believe  that  we  have 
the  most  substantial  and  well-trained  membership.  We 
certainly  have  the  financial  resources.  The  gifts  of  our 
people  to  other  causes  show  that  we  are  far  in  the  lead  in 
the  matter  of  liberality.  Therefore  we  repeat  that  what 
is  now  needed  to  restore  our  Church  to  her  rightful  place 
in  Christian  education  is  to  show  our  people  their  oppor- 
tunity and  to  formulate  some  broad-minded  and  far- 
reaching  plans  for  harmonious,  concerted,  church-wide  ef- 
fort." 


Mission  Schools  133 

In  "The  South  To-day,"  Dr.  John  M.  Moore,  Secretary 
of  Home  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  furnishes  the  following  valuable  information  con- 
cerning Christian  education  in  the  South: 

"The  Methodists  and  Baptists  became  as  active  as  the 
Presbyterians,  and  by  virtue  of  their  later  superior  numbers 
have  been  able  to  found  and  maintain  a  larger  number  of 
schools. 

"The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  now  has 
twenty-six  colleges,  nine  junior  colleges,  twenty-four 
schools  that  bear  the  name  of  college  but  whose  courses 
of  study  leave  them  in  an  unclassified  list,  and  thirty  first- 
class  academies.  The  total  value  of  the  property  is  $12,- 
332,539  and  the  endowment  is  $6,304,000.  The  total 
enrollment  in  the  colleges  is  7,033,  of  whom  4,857  are  in 
college  courses. 

"The  Southern  Baptists  have  twenty-eight  colleges 
whose  property  value,  counting  grounds,  buildings  and 
libraries,  is  $7,500,000,  and  with  large  and  growing  endow- 
ments. These  schools  have  an  enrollment  of  9,200,  of 
whom  4,600  are  in  college  courses.  The  Presbyterians 
have  twenty-three  colleges  in  the  Southern  States  with  a 
property  value  of  $4,210,000  and  an  endowment  of  $3,- 
091,000.  The  student  enrollment  is  5,200,  of  whom  2,700 
are  in  college  courses.  The  Church  of  the  Disciples,  or 
Christian  Church,  has  seven  colleges  valued  at  $2,115,000 
with  an  endowment  of  $1,115,000." 

Dr.  Henry  H.  Sweets,  Secretary  of  Christian  Education 
and  Ministerial  Relief,  gives  the  following  classified  list  of 
schools  and  colleges  under  the  oversight  and  control  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.,  which  will  convey  some  idea 
of  the  growing  educational  interest  in  the  Church : 

"16  Elementary  Schools  with  830  students.  These  are 
all  co-educational. 

22  Preparatory  Schools  with  2,032  students.     Four  of 


134  The  Task  That  Challenges 

these  schools  are  for  boys.  Three  are  for  girls.  Fifteen 
are  co-educational. 

2  Collegiate  Institutes  with  265  students.  One  is  for 
girls.     One  is  co-educational. 

9  Junior  Colleges  with  989  students.  Eight  are  for 
women.     One  is  co-educational. 

2  Affiliated  Junior  Colleges  with  423  students.  Both  are 
for  women. 

16  Presbyterian  Colleges  with  2,556  students.  Eight 
are  for  men.  Five  are  for  women.  Three  are  co-educa- 
tional. 

1  Affiliated  Presbyterian  College  with  302  students, 
for  women. 

6  Theological  Seminaries  with  326  students.  This  in- 
cludes Stillman  Institute  in  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  for  colored 
men. 

"Besides  all  these  regular  schools,  there  are  11  Orphans 
Homes  and  Schools  with  1,032  children.  All  these  are  co- 
educational and  all  have  the  best  of  modern  educational 
training,  so  that  they  may  well  be  included  in  the  list  of 
schools. 

"All  this  means  that  last  year,  taking  those  of  all  ages, 
8,453  men,  women  and  children  were  in  schools  where  the 
truth  as  contained  in  the  Bible  is  made  the  foundation  of 
all  training,  whether  physical,  mental  or  moral." 

At  one  time  the  Presbyterian  Church  led  the  world  in 
educational  institutions,  but  by  some  unaccountable 
short-sightedness,  it  has  fallen  somewhat  behind  in  the 
race  for  preeminence  in  the  chief  thing  which  has  made  it 
great,  and  given  it  denominational  leadership.  How- 
ever, by  means  of  its  numerous  Mission  schools,  this  Church 
is  beginning  to  recover  lost  ground,  and  at  the  same  time 
propagate  its  faith  and  distinctive  principles  in  communi- 
ties where  otherwise  it  could  scarcely  hope  to  obtain  a 
hearing  and  a  foothold.  Denominational  advantage  is  by 
no  means  its  chief  consideration,  for  its  Mission  schools 


Mission  Schools  135 

are  ministering  most  effectively  to  human  need.  In  far 
distant  mountain  coves,  and  in  other  destitute  communi- 
ties, these  schools  are  rescuing  the  stranded  and  dependent 
classes,  and  giving  them  a  fair  chance  for  the  survival  of 
the  fittest  in  the  struggle  for  life. 

The   Verdict  of  History. 

The  histor}'  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  indicates  that  it  grew  most  rapidly  and  took  firmer 
hold  upon  communities  where  it  was  re-enforced  by  the 
parochial  school.  The  "Log  College"  of  the  Tennents 
in  New  Jersey  developed  into  Princeton,  and  made  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  predominantly  Presbyterian  in 
the  Colonial  Period,  and  the  stronghold  of  the  denomina- 
tion to-day.  In  the  South,  Hampden-Sidney  of  Virginia, 
the  Caldwell  School  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  Willington 
School  of  Abbeville  County,  S.  C,  with  similar  institutions, 
gave  such  bias  to  the  Atlantic  Coast  for  Presbyterianism, 
as  to  make  it  a  controlling  influence  for  generations,  and 
this  section  the  most  distinctively  Presbyterian  with  the 
largest  per  cent,  proportionately  to  population  in  the  Na- 
tion. The  Willington  School,  near  the  birthplace  of  the 
author,  taught  by  Dr.  Moses  Waddell,  afterwards  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University  of  Georgia,  educated  such  leading 
statesmen  as  John  C.  Calhoun,  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States;  Geo.  McDuffie  and  Edward  Noble,  both 
Governors  of  the  State;  Jas.  L.  Pettigrew,  the  most  dis- 
tinguished lawyer  of  Charleston,  S.  C;  Jno.  T.  Pressly, 
the  eminent  theologian,  and  General  Longstreet,  author 
of  "Georgia  Scenes." 

The  public  school  system  has  rendered  unnecessary, 
and  largely  supplanted,  these  parochial  grammar  schools 
in  many  sections  of  the  country;  but  there  are  other  frontier 
and  destitute  regions  where  the  same  need  exists  and  the 
same  opportunity  invites  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  dupli- 
cate its  noble  work  and  repeat  its  glorious  traditions  of  the 


136  The  Task  That  Challenges 

past.     Will  she  recognize  her  obligation,   and   in  serving 
humanity  make  herself  great  as  the  benefactor  of  the  race? 

Distinctive  Features. 

If  secular  education  were  the  sole  purpose  of  schools, 
the  Church  would  perhaps  be  hardly  justified  in  entering 
the  field,  and  might  wisely  leave  the  whole  matter  in  the 
hands  of  the  State;  but  Christian  education,  rising  one  de- 
gree higher  than  mere  secular  learning,  finds  its  justifica- 
tion in  nobler  ideals  and  worthier  aims.  In  the  educa- 
tional sphere  it  claims  for  its  Mission  schools  the  same  justi- 
fication which  commends  its  limited  and  qualified  social 
service  program  in  the  realm  of  the  eleemosynary. 

Dr.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis  eulogizes  the  commercial  value 
of  education  in  this  striking  language:  "If  by  divine  fiat, 
tomorrow  you  could  quadruple  the  education  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  one  hundred  millions  of  people  in  this  country, 
you  would  multiply  by  ten  the  wealth  of  the  republic. 
Recently  I  was  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington,  look- 
ing at  the  tools.  Three  out  of  four  of  the  new  tools  are 
not  yet  practical.  The  people  are  not  yet  ready  for  them. 
As  yet  the  workmen  are  too  careless  to  handle  the  ex- 
quisitely fine  tools  and  costly  material.  But  we  shall  soon 
double  the  intelligence  of  the  nation,  and  then  all  these  in- 
ventions will  come  in,  to  increase  the  comfort  and  the  happi- 
ness of  the  people.  Wisdom  is  not  only  better  than  rubies, 
but  it  can  now  manufacture  a  thousand  coins  of  gold.  Ig- 
norance can  turn  Carthage  into  a  heap  and  make  New 
York  a  ruin,  but  knowledge  can  cover  the  desert  lands  of 
Idaho  and  Colorado  and  Nevada  with  houses  and  gardens 
by  leading  streams  of  water  across  the  thirsty  plains. 
Verily  there  is  a  cave  of  diamonds  and  an  Aladdin's  lamp. 
Knowledge  finds  the  path  to  the  cave  and  treasure-house, 
and  wisdom  holds  the  key.  Therefore,  with  all  thy  getting, 
get  wisdom,  and  with  all  thy  having,  have  knowledge." 


Mission  Schools  137 

Then,  recognizing  the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  mere 
secular,  unaccompanied  by  the  moral,  he  bears  fine  testi- 
mony to  the  latter:  "The  greatness  of  an  individual  and 
of  a  nation  is  threatened  when  the  intellect  is  ahead  of  the 
conscience,  and  culture  is  ranked  above  morality.  His- 
tory teaches  that  mental  power  and  moral  principle  must 
journey  forward  side  by  side.  Unfortunately,  our  genera- 
tion seems  to  know  the  right  but  to  be  losing  the  power  of 
doing  it.  Among  certain  classes  moral  illiteracy  prevails. 
The  school  has  lent  the  intellect  wings,  but  the  conscience 
crawls.  The  reason  moves  swiftly  along  the  highway  with 
the  speed  of  a  palace  car;  the  virtues  follow  slowly,  as  if 
moving  in  an  oxcart.  Unfortunately,  a  generation  may  be 
wise  towards  books  and  illiterate  towards  morals.  Solo- 
mon was  at  once  the  'wisest'  and  the  'meanest'  of  men. 
Daniel  speaks  of  the  image  that  was  part  gold  and  part 
mud — which  is  a  portrait  of  the  Hebrew  king  who  had  read 
and  written  many  books,  but  who  was  profligate,  drunken 
and  personally  indecent  and  vicious.  At  the  very  moment 
that  the  wise  king's  forehead  was  crowned  with  the  flowers 
of  wisdom,  his  feet  were  in  the  mire  of  passion.  Witness 
also  Lord  Bacon's  knowledge  of  science  and  his  sale  of  judi- 
cial decisions  and  his  acceptance  of  bribes!  Witness 
Goethe's  culture  and  Goethe's  infidelity  to.  the  women  he 
loved!  By  common  consent,  ours  is  an  educated  era; 
those  instruments  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom, the  common  schools,  the  press  and  the  book,  were 
ne\^r  so  strong  nor  so  numerous.  Would  that  our  genera- 
tion could  do  all  that  it  knows  and  obey  every  principle 
it  has  discovered !  The  rulers  of  this  nation  would  doubt- 
less be  glad  to  exchange  a  part  of  the  knowledge  possessed 
by  the  reason  to  receive  in  return  an  increment  of  obedience 
for  the  mind  and  heart." 

This  is  the  province  of  Christian  education,  as  the  state 
admits  it  has  no  constitutional  warrant  to  inculcate  re- 
ligion.    The  Mission  school  differs  from  the  state  institu- 


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Mission  Schools  139 

tion  in  three  respects:  In  addition  to  the  secular  curriculum 
which  is  common  to  both,  the  church  school  lays  emphasis 
on  Biblical  instruction  and  religious  training.  It  intro- 
duces the  industrial  feature,  and  trains  vocationally  for 
the  practical  affairs  of  life.  Indirectly  it  serves  a  still 
higher  purpose  by  inspiring  and  training  an  elect  number 
of  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry,  an  object  in  itself 
a  sufficient  compensation  for  effort  and  expense. 

Out  of  such  a  Mission  school  came  George  Truitt,  the 
great  Baptist  preacher  of  the  South,  sometimes  designated 
the  "Spurgeon"  of  his  denomination.  At  the  meeting  of 
West  Lexington  Presbytery  of  Kentucky  in  April,  1915, 
at  Highland  College,  three  bright  young  men  of  that  in- 
stitution offered  themselves  and  were  received  as  candi- 
dates for  the  gospel  ministry.  Dr.  E.  O.  Guerrant,  of 
sainted  memory,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  our  Moun- 
tain Mission  school  work  in  Kentucky,  traveling  one  day 
in  Letcher  county,  which  holds  the  record  for  unchurched 
masses  in  the  United  States,  97  per  cent,  of  its  population 
being  unidentified  with  any  denomination,  saw  a  boy  sitting 
on  a  log  by  the  roadside,  and  questioned  him  as  to  the 
matter  of  entering  the  ministry,  and  then  forgot  the  inci- 
dent. The  boy,  however,  did  not  forget,  and  Jonathan 
Day  is  now  in  charge  of  the  great  Labor  Temple  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City,  where  he  ad- 
dresses great  crowds  every  night  in  the  week.  He  also 
has  a  brother  to-day  in  one  of  our  Mountain  Mission 
schools. 

"O  little,  haggard,  voiceless  child, 

I  would  that  I  might  speak  for  thee! 
That  I  might  send  thy  message  far 

To  hearts  of  human  sj'mpathy! 

"Alas!  my  crude  and  blundering  speech 
Goes  halting  all  the  way;  but  then. 
Someone,  sometime,  shall  speak  for  thee 
Such  words  as  touch  the  hearts  of  men. 


140  The  Task  That  Challenges 

"And  in  that  day,  O  little  child, 

We'll  build  our  monuments  in  thee, 
We'll  coin  our  gold  in  perfect  lives. 
And  mould  thee  for  eternity." 

Raison  d'etre. 

Both  Church  and  State,  from  equally  strong  though 
dissimilar  motives,  are  alike  under  obligations  to  educate 
the  youth  of  the  land,  destined  to  become  the  leadership 
of  the  future.  The  state  must  teach  its  future  citizenship, 
and  the  church  is  entitled  to  train  its  leadership.  The 
Constitution  of  the  state  may  limit  the  instruction  to  the 
secular  and  prevent  its  entering  the  domain  of  religion. 
The  church  is  not  so  limited  and  may  teach  the  secular 
for  the  sake  of  the  religious. 

Dr.  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  in  speaking  of  this  work,  says:  "Here, 
then,  is  our  national  peril — that  the  supremely  important 
task  of  our  generation  will  fall  between  Church  and  State 
and  be  ignored  by  both.  The  Church  may  say,  'Education 
is  no  longer  in  our  hands.*  The  state  may  say,  'On  all 
religious  matters  we  are  silent.'  Thus  millions  may  grow 
up — are  actually  growing  up  in  America  to-day — without 
any  genuinely  religious  training.  It  is  time,  therefore,  for 
church  and  school  to  co-operate,  as  Army  and  Navy  co- 
operate, in  defence  of  our  common  country." 

In  the  higher  institutions  of  learning,  the  state  is  better 
prepared,  perhaps,  to  furnish  superior  and  technical  ad- 
vantages. In  the  secondary  schools  at  present,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  poorer  mountain  sections,  the  Church  is  better 
equipped  for  the  task. 

Rev.  W.  E.  Hudson,  himself  a  mountaineer,  and  at  one 
time  Superintendent  of  Mountain  Missions,  thus  de- 
scribes the  need:  "Being  isolated,  the  Highlander  has  had 
practically  no  chance  to  receive  an  education.  The 
Superintendent  of  public  instruction  in  one  mountain 
state,  said  that  75  per  cent,  of  the  schools  were   failures 


Mission  Schools  141 

on  account  of  incompetent  teachers.  Often  some  of  these 
teachers  can  do  little  more  than  read  and  write.  Many 
school  buildings  in  Kentucky  are  so  open  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  teach  in  them  during  the  winter,  so  the  school 
often  closes  in  the  middle  of  the  term. 

"We  can  see  the  result  of  these  poor  school  facilities  in 
the  following  statement:  At  the  last  census  13.4  per  cent, 
of  the  native  white  male  voters  in  the  seven  mountain 
states  were  illiterate,  while  of  the  same  class  in  the  United 
States  as  a  whole,  only  4.9  were  illiterate." 

Recognizing  the  insufficiency  of  the  public  school  sys- 
tem in  many  communities,  even  for  secular  training,  the 
Governor  of  Kentucky,  James  B.  McCreary,  and  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Education,  Barksdale  Hamlett,  have 
generously  endorsed  our  Mission  schools  and  welcomed 
our  Church  as  a  valuable  ally  in  this  sphere  of  service. 
The  following  testimonial  from  the  Governor  should  for- 
ever set  at  rest  any  suggestion  that  Kentucky's  great  men 
are  jealous  of  the  Mission  schools  of  the  Church  as  inter- 
fering in  any  way  with  the  prerogative  of  the  state,  or 
that  there  is  no  necessity  for  such  Christian  schools: 

"I  thought  the  occasion  worthy  of  my  attendance  as 
Governor  of  this  state,  to  speak  at  the  dedication  of  Beech- 
wood  Seminary,  and  accepted  your  invitation  to  do  so. 
After  seeing  your  school  and  meeting  the  people  of  Lee 
county,  who  have  to-day  shown  their  interest  in  this 
work  by  thronging  here  to  assist  in  the  dedication  by  their 
presence,  I  am  more  than  ever  certain  that  this  is  a  needed 
and  worthy  effort  to  better  the  condition  of  our  mountain 
people ;  also  that  they  appreciate  what  is  being  done. 

"There  are  no  better  people  on  earth  than  those  in  Lee 
county  and  adjoining  counties,  and  the  isolated  conditions 
that  have  heretofore  prevented  their  children  from  secur- 
ing an  adequate  education,  should  no  longer  prevent  the 
development  of  the  mountain  people.  I  wish  you  all 
success  in  your  work." 


142  The  Task  That  Challenges 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  statement  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent of  Education: 

"When  you  asked  me  to  come  up  to  the  dedication  of 
Beechwood  Seminary  and  to  speak  for  you  on  that  occa- 
sion, I  gladly  consented,  feeHng  that  as  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  I  should  be  serving  the  edu- 
cational interests  of  the  state  by  officially  endorsing 
what  your  Society  is  doing  for  the  mountain  population 
of  Kentucky. 

"I  am  glad  that  I  came  and  exceedingly  pleased  to  see 
how  eager  these  mountain  people  are  to  show  their  appre- 
ciation of  your  efforts  as  they  have  done  this  day. 

"It  has  been  shown  me  that  many  living  too  far  back 
from  Heidelberg  to  send  their  children  daily  from  their 
homes,  are  unable  to  find  board  here  for  them,  and  that 
dormitories  are  much  needed  to  extend  your  power  to 
bring  the  school  and  the  children  in  touch  with  each  other. 

"I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  find  the  funds  soon.  If 
anyone  wishes  to  refer  to  me,  as  to  whether  money  thus 
spent  will  be  well  spent,  I  am  at  any  time  ready  to  do  what 
I  can  to  satisfy  them  upon  that  point." 

If  the  Church  can  furnish  better  equipment,  better 
teachers  and  better  moral  influences,  who  can  forbid  her 
entrance  into  this  noble  sphere  of  service?  The  period 
of  adolescence  when  character  is  formed  and  the  individual 
is  most  susceptible  of  religious  influences,  affords  such  a 
magnificent  opportunity  as  to  constitute  a  tremendous 
obligation   upon   Christianity. 

"I  took  a  piece  of  plastic  clay 
And  idly  fashioned  it  one  day, 
And  as  my  fingers  pressed  it  still, 
It  moved  and  yielded  to  my  will. 

"I  came  again  when  days  were  past; 
The  bit  of  clay  was  hard  at  last, 
The  form  I  gave  it,  still  it  bore. 
But  I  could  change  that  form  no  more. 


Mission  Schools  143 

"I  took  a  piece  of  living  clay, 
And  gently  formed  it  day  by  day 
And  moulded  with  my  power  and  art 
A  young  child's  soft  and  yielding  heart. 

"I  came  again  when  years  were  gone, 
It  was  a  man  I  looked  upon; 
He  still  that  earthly  impress  wore. 
And  I  could  change  him  never  more." 

Objections  Considered. 

In  a  recent  address  before  the  Home  Missions  Council 
in  New  York,  Prof.  John  C.  Campbell,  of  the  Russell  Sage 
Foundation,  indulged  in  friendly  criticism  of  the  Church 
Mission  School  system,  insisting  that  these  institutions 
injure  mountain  communities  by  robbing  them  of  their 
best  material,  and  leave  the  rubbish  without  competent 
leadership.  He  compares  the  system  to  a  dragnet  drawing 
the  largest  fish  out  of  their  element  and  impoverishing 
the  community  to  that  extent.  In  his  opinion  it  is  a  sys- 
tem for  the  favored  few,  training  them  away  from  their 
rural  environments  and  encouraging  them  to  chase  after 
the  rainbow  end  that  touches  the  plain,  instead  of  remain- 
ing where  darkness  and  light  battle  for  the  supremacy. 
His  contention  is  for  schools  which  adapt  themselves  to 
life's  problems,  training  for  the  environment  in  which  the 
beneficiaries  live;  and  that  the  future  of  the  Church  school 
will  be  determined  by  its  aim,  as  outlined  by  this  ideal. 

The  Church  should  welcome  friendly  criticism  and  be 
reasonable  enough  to  admit  the  force  of  whatever  is  just, 
profiting  thereby.  The  fault,  however,  is  not  inherent 
in  the  system,  but  rather  the  result  of  false  ideals  and  mis- 
taken zeal  on  the  part  of  many  well-meaning  and  splendid 
teachers.  Why  not  hasten  to  admit  that  it  is  a  mistaken 
sentiment  which  fires  a  mountain  boy  with  the  ambition 
to  be  a  missionary  to  China  or  the  pastor  of  a  great  city 
church,   whereas   he   might   be   something   greater   as   the 


144  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Apostle  of  his  own  people.  Perhaps  the  Church  itself  is 
somewhat  in  error  by  creating  a  false  halo  for  the  brow  of 
the  foreign  missionary  and  extolling  his  work  as  the  high- 
est type  of  heroism.  Possibly  it  would  require  more  heroic 
self-sacrifice  to  avoid  the  limelight  of  publicity  and  bury 
one's  self  in  the  task  of  regenerating  a  mountain  com- 
munity, especially  when  that  community  is  composed  of 
one's  own  kindred. 

"God's  glory  is  a  wondrous  thing, 
Most  otrange  in  all  its  waj's, 
And,  of  all  things  on  earth,  least  like 
What  men  agree  to  praise." 

At  the  Judgment  bar  many  will  change  places — and  "The 
first  shall  be  last;  and  the  last  shall  be  first." 

Years  ago  someone  said,  "It  remains  to  be  seen  what  God 
can  do  with  one  man  who  yields  himself  completely  to 
the  divine  will";  and  a  young  man  named  Dwight  L. 
Moody  exclaimed,  "I  will  be  the  man."  The  world  knows 
the  result.  It  remains  yet  to  be  seen  what  God  can  do 
with  some  mountain  boy  who  yields  himself  for  the  de- 
spised task  of  redeeming  a  mountain  section.  Michael 
Angelo  once  said  he  never  saw  a  block  of  rough  marble 
without  feeling  within  himself  the  strong  impulse  to  liberate 
the  angel  imprisoned  within  it;  and  his  many  masterpieces 
of  art  still  live  to  show  how  well  he  fulfilled  his  purpose. 
The  rough  material  of  the  mountains  awaits  the  consecrated 
genius  of  some  great  soul,  to  liberate  these  men  and  wo- 
men and  make  them  live  forever,  as  evidence  of  w^hat  God 
can  do  with  a  man  entirely  yielded  to  the  divine  will  for 
a  great  purpose. 

Pathetic  Incidents. 

Rev.  Homer  McMillan  is  responsible  for  the  following 
complaint  of  a  neglected  mountain  child:  "Nobody  never 


Mission  Schools  145 

comes  in  here  and  nobody  never  goes  out.  My  paw  just 
growed  up  and  never  knowed  nothin',  and  so  did  his  paw 
afore  him.  Sometimes  when  I  be  hoein'  corn  on  the 
mountain  side  I  looks  up  the  crick  and  down  the  crick,  and 
wonders  if  there  ain't  nobody  never  comin'  to  larn  me 
nothin'."  This  is  the  real  need  expressed  for  thousands 
of  boys  and  girls  shut  away  in  the  narrow  coves  of  the 
mountain  regions. 

A  half-intoxicated  mountaineer,  an  old  man,  said  to  one 
of  our  teachers:  "You  can't  do  anything  much  for  me;  but 
you  can  educate  and  save  my  children."  One  of  our  teach- 
ers wrote  the  author  the  following  true  incident:  Having 
tried  in  various  ways  to  awaken  and  interest  an  incorrigi- 
ble mountain  boy,  she  at  last  said,  "Charles,  don't  you 
want  to  learn  and  improve  yourself,  so  you  can  go  to 
Heaven?"  To  which  he  replied,  "No,  Miss  Jennie,  I 
don't  want  to  go  to  Heaven.  I'd  rather  stay  here  where 
I  am  better  acquainted."  Another  related  to  the  writer 
that  after  teaching  the  children  a  prayer  to  be  repeated 
each  night  on  retiring,  she  would  occasionally  request  each 
child  to  say  whether  he  was  keeping  up  the  practice.  At 
last  a  boy  about  fifteen  suddenly  asked  before  the  whole 
school:  "Miss  Patsy,  I  want  to  know  how  long  this  thing 
has  got  to  be  kept  up?"  To  which  she  replied,  "As  long  as 
3'ou   live." 

Dr.  Guerrant  was  fond  of  relating  this  amusing  incident: 
At  the  opening  of  one  of  our  large  schools,  an  ungainly 
youth  put  in  his  appearance  as  a  boarder.  The  principal 
said  to  him,  "\\'here  is  your  trunk?"  "What  do  I  want 
with  a  trunk?"  "Why,"  said  the  teacher,  "to  put  your 
clothes  in."  With  a  puzzled  look  he  answered,  "\\'hat 
would  I  be  doing  with  my  clothes  in  a  trunk?" 

Need,  the  Criterion. 

No  question  is  herein  raised  as  to  the  practicability  or 
advisability  of  extending  the  Church  school  system  through- 


146  The  Task  That  Challenges 

out  the  country.  The  determining  factor  which  has 
hitherto  guided  in  the  establishment  of  these  Mission 
schools  has  been  the  sole  consideration  of  need,  and  the 
financial  ability  of  the  Home  Mission  Committee  to  re- 
spond to  the  appeals  which  cry  from  many  a  cove  and 
mountain  valley.  Whether  such  need  has  been  fully  met 
may  be  judged  by  the  following  figures  in  round  numbers, 
furnished  by  an  eminent  authority  in  educational  matters: 

Mountain  population 5,000,000 

Mountain  rural  population 4,500,000 

Mountain  school  children 3,000,000 

Mountain  pupils  in  Mission  schools 25,000 

Mountain  teachers,  in  Mission  schools 1,000 

For  this  reason  our  Mission  schools  are  confined  for  the 
present  almost  exclusively  to  the  dependent  classes,  such 
as  Mountaineers,  Indians,  Foreigners  and  Negroes.  Lack 
of  space  prevents  any  complete  and  adequate  account  of 
our  system.  Only  such  data  need  be  given  as  to  furnish 
a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  field.  The  subject  is  still 
further  embarrassed  by  the  gradual  shading  off  of  the 
Mission  school  into  the  college,  and  the  uncertainty  whether 
an  institution  would  be  complimented  or  offended  by  in- 
clusion in  the  list. 

Indian. 

First  in  point  of  time  came  our  Mission  schools  for  the 
Indians,  dating  back  seventy-five  years.  One  of  the  most 
important  was  Spencer  Academy,  in  the  Choctaw  Nation 
of  the  Indian  Territory,  where  Sheldon  Jackson  once  taught 
and  did  his  first  Home  Mission  work.  It  was  here  also 
that  Rev.  J.  J.  Read,  of  blessed  memor>',  labored  so  faith- 
fully and  moulded  the  character  of  such  native  preachers 
as  Henry  Wilson,  Silas  L.  Bacon,  and  others.  Later 
Armstrong    Academy,    under    the    management    of    Rev. 


Mission  Schools  147 

W.  J.  B.  Lloyd,  Rev.  C.  J.  Ralston  and  others,  rendered 
splendid  service  to  the  Indian  people  and  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Inadequate  support  by  the  Church  is  the 
same  old  story  of  neglect  which  necessitated  withdrawal; 
and  both  of  these  historic  institutions  are  now  government 
or  tribal  schools,  and  are  still  giving  good  account  of 
themselves  in  the  sphere  of  secular  education. 

Goodland. 

The  oldest  Indian  school,  which  has  had  a  continuous 
life,  is  Goodland,  near  Hugo,  Okla.,  and  it  reaches  back 
al;out  seventy-five  years.  For  many  years  it  was  strictly 
missionary  and  under  the  control  of  the  Church.  The 
altered  situation  in  the  management  of  Indian  affairs 
necessitated  changes  in  the  conducting  of  Mission  schools; 
and  fifteen  years  ago  the  present  Secretary  of  Home 
Missions  found  in  existence  a  plan  whereby  the  "tribal 
funds"  were  used  at  Goodland  for  paying  teachers  for  the 
Indians,  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions 
furnishing  and  paying  the  salary  of  mission  teachers  in 
the  school.  This  arrangement  was  soon  abandoned,  and 
the  school  was  carried  on  entirely  by  means  of  "tribal 
funds,"  but  the  Indian  school  board  ordinarily  appointed 
Presbyterian  teachers,  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the 
community. 

Several  years  ago  a  legacy  for  Indian  Missions  supplied 
the  need  of  a  suitable  dormitory,  which  enabled  the  friends 
of  the  school  to  take  boarding  pupils,  and  especially  orphan 
Indian  children.  Rev.  Silas  Bacon,  an  Indian  preacher, 
had  been  in  charge  for  several  years,  and  conducted  the 
boarding  department.  Through  his  influence  the  Choctaw 
Legislature  made  an  appropriation  of  $10,000  from  "tribal 
funds"  for  the  school,  subject  to  the  approval  of  Congress. 
As  it  would  have  embarrassed  the  Presbyterian  Church 
to  receive  this  appropriation.  Rev-.  Silas  Bacon  was  ad- 
vised to  withdraw  the  school  from  all  connection  with  the 


148  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Home  Mission  Committee.  This  was  accordingly  done 
and  the  property  is  held  by  a  local  Board  of  Trustees, 
largely  Indians,  and  independent,  though  all  its  members 
are  Presbyterians.  The  school  has  three  teachers  and 
150  pupils,  most  of  them  being  boarders.  It  has  a  modern 
equipment  of  recitation  halls,  dormitories,  auditoriums, 
etc.,  valued  at  $20,000.  The  Institution  serves  a  noble 
purpose,  and  is  commended  to  the  kind  benefactions  of 
generous  friends  of  Indian  and  Christian  education. 

Oklahoma  Preshyterian  College. 

No  institution  in  our  Church  fills  a  more  unique  and  use- 
ful place  than  this  college,  which  developed  through  suc- 
cessive stages  from  a  small  primary  school  to  a  prominent 
place  among  the  colleges  for  the  Christian  education  of 
women.  It  is  our  only  Synodical  institution  in  that  great 
progressive  state.  It  educates  Indians  and  whites  on  equal 
footing,  and  ordinarily  they  are  about  equal  in  numbers. 
It  is  regarded  by  the  general  public  as  one  of  the  best  in 
the  state,  and  it  fills  a  sphere  peculiarly  its  own. 

The  campus  of  thirty  acres,  within  the  corporate  limits 
of  Durant,  was  given  by  friends,  at  a  cost  of  $27,000.  The 
building,  which  is  school  and  dormitory  combined,  cost 
nearly  $100,000.  During  its  construction,  overtaken  by 
financial  misfortunes,  several  times  its  friends  and  pro- 
moters lost  hope  and  feared  it  was  wrecked.  Once  the 
women  of  the  Church  saved  it;  and  in  the  end  a  few  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  devised  ways  and  means  which  rescued 
it  from  final  collapse. 

Too  much  credit  cannot  be  accorded  President  W.  B. 
Morrison  for  his  capable  management  and  the  heroic 
struggle  by  which  he  has  operated  it  for  seven  years, 
gradually  equipping  it  with  apparatus  and  furniture. 
He  has  educated  young  women  who  are  a  credit  to  him  and 
to  the  institution,  and  they  are  now  scattered  throughout 
a  wide  area. 


Mission  Schools 


149 


ISO  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Inadequate  equipment  has  so  greatly  handicapped  its 
usefulness  and  so  proportionately  augmented  expenses, 
that  it  becomes  necessary  to  provide  another  dormitory 
which  will  double  its  usefulness,  without  adding  to  the 
expense  of  operation.  By  an  arrangement  of  joint  co- 
operation, the  Synod  undertook  a  campaign  within  its 
bounds,  and  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions 
set  aside  the  special  gifts  of  Home  Mission  Week  for  a  new 
dormitory  and  better  equipment.  Partial  success  has 
crowned  these  efforts. 

Mountains. 

By  far  the  most  important  because  of  need,  destitution, 
and  the  number  of  schools  operated  and  pupils  taught,  are 
our  institutions  in  the  Appalachian  Mountains. 

Leaving  out  the  fertile  valleys  and  towns  containing 
more  than  2,500  people  each,  it  is  calculated  that  there  are 
at  least  three  million  mountaineers  in  the  dependent  class, 
whose  partial  destitution  entitles  them  to  special  considera- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  Church.  In  addition  to  evan- 
gelistic work,  a  system  of  mission  schools  is  maintained, 
not  simply  for  purposes  of  secular  education,  but  to  im- 
plant in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  children  at  the  im- 
pressionable age,  the  precepts  and  principles  of  religion. 

"Including  Presbyterian  and  Synodical  Schools,  our 
Church  has  in  round  numbers  forty-six  Mountain  schools 
and  Missions.  The  total  annual  budget  of  all  these  schools, 
including  improvements,  has  been  roughly  estimated  at 
$85,000.  The  fact  that  many  of  these  are  mission  stations 
as  well  as  schools,  and  that  the  work  is  carried  on  the  year 
round  increases  the  cost  per  capita  of  each  pupil.  In 
round  numbers  there  are  3,250  pupils  in  these  schools. 
The  average  amount  charged  for  tuition  and  board  in  all 
these  schools  is  about  $8.00  per  month,  perhaps  the  cheap- 
est educational  institutions  in  the  land.  Many  of  our 
schools   are   becoming   community   centers.       Basket   and 


Mission  Schools  151 

base  ball,  annual  fair  and  field  day  exercises  have  been  en- 
couraged. The  teaching  of  the  industrial  arts  has  been 
emphasized,  nameh',  Domestic  Science,  Home-Making, 
Sewing,  Basketry  and  Agriculture." 

Foreign-Speaking. 

The  first  in  point  of  time  and  the  most  prosperous,  is 
the  Texas-Mexican  Work.  From  an  humble  origin  it  has 
grown  to  a  vigorous  Presbytery,  which  coincides  with  the 
Synod  of  Texas.  It  now  has  22  Mexican  churches,  1,200 
communicants,  served  by  4  American  missionaries  and  6 
native  Mexican  pastors.  The  additions  annually  exceed 
the  average  number  added  to  Presbyteries  of  the  same 
size. 

By  far  the  most  important  development  has  been  the 
establishment  of  an  Industrial  school  for  young  men  at 
Kingsville,  Texas.  Rev.  J.  W.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  has  been 
placed  in  charge  and  is  demonstrating  that  he  is  a  work- 
man approved  of  God.  Mrs.  King  donated  700  acres 
of  land  for  the  school  and  part  of  it  has  been  brought  under 
cultivation.  Inexpensi^'e  buildings  have  been  erected  at 
a  cost  of  several  thousand  dollars,  and  the  school  has  been 
conducted  with  good  attendance.  It  has  at  present  no 
endowment,  poor  equipment,  and  is  largely  dependent 
upon  special  gifts  and  voluntary  contributions  for  its 
running  expenses. 

If  the  Texas-Mexican  Industrial  Institute  should  fall 
heir  to  a  reasonable  endowment,  it  would  enable  the 
school  to  make  a  very  large  contribution  toward  the  solu- 
tion of  all  the  problems  that  confront  our  Texas-Mexican 
Mission.  For  the  men  who  are  really  to  save  the  situation 
and  give  definite  solution  to  many  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  are  there  receiving  that  which  will  fit  them  for 
serving  the  Church  as  well  as  serving  their  fellow-country- 
men  in   a   manifold   way.     We   should    realize   that    the 


152  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Texas-Mexicans  themselves  must  solve  the  Texas- Mexican 
problems  and  should  be  fitted  for  this  great  responsi- 
bility. 

Italians. 

The  Italian  Mission  at  Birmingham  is  so  named  because 
that  is  the  predominant  nationality,  but  there  are  as  many 
as  12  nationalities  represented  in  our  Mission  schools 
there,  and  41  nationalities  are  enumerated  in  the  census 
of  the  Birmingham  District.  Sabbath  schools  are  main- 
tained at  different  places,  while  day  schools,  night  schools, 
kindergartens,  domestic  science,  etc.,  are  taught  by  com- 
petent and  devoted  women  who  have  the  missionary 
spirit.  One  hundred  and  fifty  attend  the  various  schools, 
of  whom  103  are  gatheied  into  our  Sabbath  schools  for 
these  foreign  peoples.  The  equipment  for  all  this  work 
is  a  two-story  school  building,  a  chapel,  and  several  rented 
houses.  The  work  is  seriously  crippled  and  hindered  by 
lack  of  proper  equipment.  The  Executive  Committee 
makes  an  appropriation  towards  the  current  expenses,  but 
has  no  funds  with  which  to  erect  buildings  having  institu- 
tional features  that  are  necessary  to  properly  equip  a  work 
of  this  character. 

The  Italian  Mission  at  Kansas  City  is  located  in  the  midst 
of  a  population  of  6,000  Italians,  most  of  them  from  South- 
ern Italy.  A  large  portion  of  the  licensed  saloons  are  lo- 
cated in  this  section  of  the  city,  which  contains  also  the 
segregated  vice  district.  As  a  result  of  mission  effort  by 
the  Central  Presbyterian  church,  about  sixty  have  been 
added  to  the  roll  of  this  church,  and  a  splendid  plant 
erected  valued  at  $16,000. 

In  addition  to  the  pastor  in  charge,  two  consecrated 
women  are  employed  as  teachers  and  helpers,  while  the 
Sabbath  School  superintendent  and  teachers  give  their 
services  gladly.  The  people  take  part  in  the  public  ser- 
vices, giving  their  religious  experiences,  and  asking  ques- 


Mission  Schools  153 

tions.  During  the  summer,  worship  is  conducted  in  the 
open  air,  attended  by  large  numbers,  sometimes  reaching 
300  or  more. 

The  industrial  and  institutional  features  of  the  work  con- 
sist of  kindergartens,  drills,  classes  in  domestic  science,  etc. 
Bible  classes  are  also  conducted  for  women  in  the  after- 
noon; and  there  are  lectures  with  music  for  boys  and  men, 
and  gymnasium  exercises  one  evening  in  the  week. 

Negroes. 

The  Stillman  Institute  has  had  an  enrollment  of  seventy- 
two,  of  whom  forty  are  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Some 
academic  students  were  turned  away,  to  make  room  for 
theological  students,  for  whom  chiefly  the  Institute  was 
founded.  The  present  dormitory  accommodates  only 
forty-eight.  Two  other  facts  should  be  remembered, 
which  distinguish  this  school  from  all  other  theological 
schools  in  the  country: 

1.  It  is  a  true  Home  Missionary  contribution  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  the  salvation  and  uplift  of  the 
Negro  race.  Students  of  approved  character  are  received 
from  all  denominations  and  treated  alike.  The  funda- 
mental fact  before  us  is  to  train  this  immature  and  growing 
race  in  the  great  and  plain  doctrines  of  grace,  and  to  give 
them  a  usable  knowledge  of  the  English  Bible. 

2.  Simple  industries  are  provided,  such  as  gardening, 
carpentry,  dairying  and  poultry  raising,  which  afford  a 
wise  vehicle  for  education  and  a  sensible  means  of  exercise 
and  recreation  to  the  students.  Credit  is  given  them  for 
all  labor  performed,  thus  enabling  any  student  partly 
to  pay  his  own  way  to  an  education.  No  dead  languages 
are  taught,  and  there  is  an  effort  made  to  train  our  gradu- 
ates to  be  self-reliant  and  enterprising. 

Of  our  graduates,  thirty-three  are  serving  seventy 
colored   Presbyterian   churches,    many  are  also   teaching 


154  The  Task  That  Challenges 

parochial  schools.  As  many  more  are  enlisted  in  the 
ministry  of  other  churches.  Three  are  useful  missionaries 
in  Africa. 

Abbeville  {S.  C.)  School. 

For  many  years  the  Ferguson  Williams  School  at  Abbe- 
ville, S.  C,  has  dragged  itself  slowly,  embarrassed  by  debt, 
inadequate  equipment  and  the  inability  of  the  Executive 
Committee  to  render  very  substantial  aid.  Plans  are  now 
being  perfected  for  enlargement,  and  the  establishment  of 
a  first  class  school  with  industrial  features  at  this  place, 
but  the  details  are  not  sufficiently  advanced  or  the  enter- 
prise so  definitely  assured  as  to  warrant  the  immediate 
fulfilment  of  our  hopes. 

Primary  and  parochial  schools  are  being  taught  by  col- 
ored pastors  and  their  assistants,  in  connection  with  their 
pastorates  in  different  cities,  and  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  Home  Missions  has  financed  Vacation  Bible 
Schools  in  Atlanta  at  an  average  cost  per  pupil  of  $1. 

Giierrant  Inland  Mission. 

Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  the  eminent  scientist,  being  asked 
on  one  occasion  what  he  considered  his  greatest  discovery, 
made  an  unexpected  reply.  Instead  of  naming  his  "Safety 
Lamp,"  "Sodium,"  "Potassium,"  or  some  other  of  his 
brilliant  chemical  achievements,  he  answered,  "Michael 
Faraday."  With  little  education  and  practically  no  train- 
ing, this  boy  had  been  employed  by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy 
as  a  utility  man  in  the  laboratory,  but  he  was  inspired  by 
the  influence  of  his  great  master  to  undertake  independent 
investigation,  which  resulted  in  the  demonstration  of 
electricity  as  a  practical  motor  power.  In  a  certain  sense, 
Michael  Faraday's  labors  made  possible  the  telegraph, 
telephone,  and  every  electric  motor  that  turns  the  million 
wheels  of  machinery.     Robert  Raikes  discovered  the  poor 


Mission  Schools  155 

waifs  of  our  great  cities,  and  the  result  is  the  modern 
Sabbath  school  system,  teaching  17,000,000  children 
throughout  Christendom. 

In  like  manner  the  credit  belongs  to  Dr.  Edward  O. 
Guerrant  of  discovering  the  isolated  and  neglected  chil- 
dren of  our  Appalachian  Mountains;  and  the  hundreds  of 
chapels  and  schools  of  the  future,  which  are  destined  to 
spring  up  in  unnumbered  mountain  communities  to  bless 
thousands  of  children  yet  unborn,  will  constitute  his  per- 
petual monument.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  General 
Assembly,  with  a  rising  and  unanimous  vote,  decided  to 
perpetuate  his  name  and  influence,  by  naming  all  its 
Mountain  Work  in  honor  of  its  founder,  "The  Guerrant 
Inland  Mission"?  He  has  gone  to  his  blessed  reward, 
but  his  "works  do  follow"  him,  and  he,  "being  dead  yet 
speaketh."  Could  there  be  a  more  fitting  close  to  this 
chapter  than  to  allow  that  eloquent  tongue,  now  silent  in 
the  tomb,  to  plead  once  more  as  a  voice  from  out  eternity 
in  behalf  of  his  beloved  people: 

"If  fifty  years'  experience  among  the  Highlanders  gives 
authority  to  speak  of  them,  then  I  may  be  granted  that 
privilege.  For  more  than  fifty  years  I  have  traveled  among 
them,  as  soldier,  physician  and  minister.  I  was  brought 
up  in  a  village  of  churches,  and  thought  all  people  this  side 
of  China  were  equally  blessed.  Some  older  people  are  yet 
laboring  under  this  same  delusion. 

"When  a  young  man,  I  went  to  Virginia,  the  land  of  my 
fathers,  to  join  the  army,  and  rode  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  across  the  Cumberland  mountains.  Although  not 
looking  for  churches  or  preachers,  I  do  not  remember  seeing 
a  single  one.  During  the  year  I  crossed  those  mountains 
several  times,  and  still  found  no  churches. 

"After  the  war  I  became  a  physician  and  frequently 
rode  through  those  mountains  visiting  the  sick,  and  still 
found  only  a  church  or  two  in  many  miles,  though  there 
were  thousands  of  people  with  souls. 


156  The  Task  That  Challenges 

"When  I  became  a  minister,  I  naturally  remembered 
that  country  where  many  of  my  old  comrades  lived, 
Christless  and  churchless,  and  determined  to  give  them 
what  little  help  I  could.  In  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  I 
found  a  mighty  champion  for  these  long  neglected  people 
— the  Rev.  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson,  a  man  who  believed  the 
Gospel  was  for  "every  creature"  in  "all  the  world." 
Through  his  influence  largely  the  rtiissions  to  the  moun- 
tains were  inaugurated  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  over 
twenty  years  ago,  and  I  was  honored  by  being  called  from 
the  First  church  of  Louisville  to  serve  the  Synod  as  Evan- 
gelist. I  thought  I  had  some  idea  of  the  vast  destitution 
of  the  mountain  regions,  but  when  I  entered  the  work  I 
was  amazed  to  find  a  region  as  large  as  the  German  Em- 
pire, practically  without  churches,  Sabbath  schools  or 
qualified  teachers;  whole  counties  with  tens  of  thousands 
of  people,  who  had  never  seen  a  church  or  heard  a  Gospel 
sermon  they  could  understand ;  and  there  are  thousands  of 
them   yet. 

"They  are  not  a  degenerate  people.  They  are  a  brave, 
independent,  high-spirited  people,  whose  poverty  and  loca- 
tion have  isolated  them  from  the  advantages  of  education 
and  religion.  They  have  been  simply  passed  by  in  the 
march  of  progress  in  this  great  age  because  they  were  out 
of  the  way.  The  world  to-day — even  our  own  people — 
know  more  of  China  and  Japan  than  of  these  neighbors, 
our  contemporaries  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. 

"No  railroads  or  any  other  kind  of  roads  invited  travelers, 
scholars  or  preachers  into  the  solitudes  of  their  mountain 
homes.  The  inevitable  result  has  been  the  want  of  those 
blessings  which  education  and  religion  bring,  churches  and 
schools.  With  the  fewest  exceptions,  there  are  none  of 
either.  In  the  largest  county  in  the  Cumberlands,  when  I 
entered  it,  there  was  not  a  church  in  the  whole  county,  and 
the   only   school   in   its   capital   was   taught  in  the   court- 


Mission  Schools  157 

house.  One  of  our  oldest  evangelists  and  a  mountain 
man,  after  a  tour  through  a  large  section,  said:  'Of  all  the 
destitutions  I  have  ever  seen,  this  excels  all.  Not  a  Bible 
or  a  Christian  did  I  find.' 

"I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  this  is  the  largest 
body  of  white  people  on  this  continent  who  are  practically 
without  the  Gospel.  And  I  do  not  know  any  people  who 
will  make  greater  sacrifices  to  hear  it.  I  have  known  them 
to  walk  from  five  to  ten  miles  over  their  rough  mountain 
roads  to  hear  the  Gospel,  and  sit  on  the  ground  and  rough 
boards  from  9  in  the  morning  till  4  in  the  afternoon,  with 
only  a  brief  intermission  at  noon.  Though  without  edu- 
cation, they  are  naturally  bright,  and  easily  comprehend 
and  gladly  receive  the  Gospel  message;  and  when  con- 
verted, are  as  faithful  as  any  others  under  similar  condi- 
tions. To  their  honor  be  it  said,  I  have  never  seen  an  infidel 
among  them. 

"We  believe  in  Foreign  Missions,  but  we  also  believe  in 
'beginning  at  Jerusalem.'  These  are  the  'heathen  at  our 
doors.'  Their  souls  are  worth  as  much  as  others.  They 
are  more  easily  reached.  It  costs  less  than  half  to  reach 
them.  The  results  are  quicker,  because  their  language  is 
our  own.  Their  traditions,  history  and  ancestors  are  the 
same  as  our  own.  The  consequences  of  their  conversion 
are  greater.  They  will  furnish  teachers,  ministers  and 
missionaries  to  the  heathen  abroad. 

"After  fifty  years'  knowledge  of  this  people,  and  twenty- 
five  years'  labor  among  them  as  a  minister,  I  was  con- 
vinced that  all  agencies  now  employed  or  available  by 
neighboring  churches  would  never  reach  them  in  this  gen- 
eration, or  maybe  in  a  dozen  generations.  So  I  appealed  to 
all  Christian  people  who  loved  their  own  countrymen  to 
help  save  them.  The  response  was  such  as  only  God  could 
inspire.  From  every  branch  of  the  Church  and  every  sec- 
tion of  our  country  and  beyond  it,  even  from  China  and  the 


158  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Sandwich  Islands,  God  has  raised  up  loving  hearts  and 
liberal  hands  to  help. 

"In  ten  years  362  missionaries  have  labored  exclusively 
in  these  wild  mountains.  They  made  51,000  visits,  held 
over  22,000  public  services  at  10,069  places,  had  6,304  con- 
versions, taught  879  Bible  schools,  with  39,456  pupils, 
distributed  over  250  boxes  and  barrels  of  clothing  to  the 
poor,  over  10,000  Bibles  and  Testaments,  and  125,000 
tracts,  built  56  churches,  schools  and  mission  houses,  in- 
cluding three  academies,  an  Orphan  Asylum  and  two  hos- 
pitals. 

"These  people  belong  to  the  ruling  race  of  the  world, 
and  are  worthy  to  belong  to  it.  They  certainly  should  have 
an  equal  chance  for  the  blessings  of  religion  and  education 
with  the  Asiatics  and  Africans.  They  have  not  had  it  in 
the  past.  For  our  Missions  are  but  lighthouses  yet,  on 
the  shores  of  a  continent  of  darkness." 


VIII. 
AMERICA,  THE  MELTING  POT. 

■'Oh,  East  is  East  and  West  is  West,  and  never  the  twain  shall  meet, 
Till  earth  and  sky  stand  presently  at  God's  great  judgment  seat; 
But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West,  border,  nor  breed,  nor  birth, 
When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face,  though  they  come  from  the 
end  of  the  earth." 

From  a  cosmopolitan  standpoint.  East  and  West  have 
been  during  the  ages  past  recognized  as  distinct  and  fixed 
types,  justifying  the  sentiment  of  the  poet;  but  modern 
transportation  has  annihilated  space,  blotted  out  the  points 
of  the  compass,  and  made  all  the  world  neighbors,  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth;  while  modern  migration,  by 
pouring  into  America  the  blood  of  all  nations,  is  reversing 
the  confusion  of  Babel,  and  uniting  once  again  the  hitherto 
discordant  dialects  of  earth  into  the  speech  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  transforming  these  heterogeneous  peoples  into 
the  composite  and  cosmopolitan  American. 

America,  the  Product  of  Immigration. 

The  history  of  the  United  States  is  largely  a  historv  of 
immigration.  It  began  with  the  landing  of  our  forefathers 
at  Jamestown,  at  New  Amsterdam,  at  Plymouth  Rock, 
and  at  Charleston,  and  from  that  date  America  has  been 
the  Mecca  of  all  nations,  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed,  the 
asylum  of  religious  liberty,  the  land  of  opportunity,  the 
Melting  Pot.  "America's  ports  are  like  swinging  doors. 
Through  them  is  passing  in  and  out  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  the  earth's  inhabitants."  Allured  by  promises 
of  plenty,  the  hungry  hordes  of  the  Old  World  sacrifice 
their  scanty  earthly  possessions,  actuated  by  one  ambition 
— the  desire  to  accumulate  enough  to  pay  their  passage  to 


160  The  Task  That  Challenges 

America.  Disappointed  in  some  of  their  expectations,  or 
overcome  with  a  longing  desire  to  revisit  the  land  of  their 
nativity,  many  return,  bearing  the  news  of  America's  great- 
ness and  golden  harvests,  incidentally  spreading  the  con- 
tagion of  the  immigration  spirit.  Like  the  tidal  wave  roll- 
ing along  the  beach,  it  may  at  times  recede,  but  only  to  re- 
turn with  increasing  volume  and  irresistible  impetus,  to 
reach  a  still  higher  water  mark. 

Other  nations,  England  leading  the  van,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  colonizing  habit,  enter  all  open  doors,  by 
sending  their  sons  and  daughters  to  form  new  settlements, 
whose  influence  and  trade  relations  glorify  and  enrich  the 
fatherland.  Not  so,  America;  she  has  comparatively  no 
over-crowded  communities  needing  to  swarm,  no  oppressed 
needing  relief,  no  sons  and  daughters  to  spare;  but,  on  the 
contrary  throwing  wide  her  portals,  she  invites  the  nations 
of  the  world  to  colonize  in  her  midst,  if  they  but  swear 
allegiance  to  her  flag,  accept  her  institutions,  and  are 
willing  to  be  transmuted  into  American  citizens;  and  thus 
she  draws  into  her  veins  the  life-blood  of  the  world. 

The  Immigrant  Tide. 

It  was  not  until  1820  that  any  accurate  record  was  kept 
of  the  incoming  army  of  aliens;  but  since  that  time  the 
number  has  been  steadily  increasing,  until  in  1907,  it 
reached  the  zenith,  when  there  came  1,285,349.  During 
the  past  hundred  years  30,000,000  have  entered  our  open 
doors;  and  the  recent  census  reveals  the  fact  that  there  are 
living  among  us  to-day  16,000,000  of  foreign  birth  and 
as  many  more  of  foreign  parentage,  which  accounts  for 
about  one-third  our  population,  leaving  out  of  calculation 
the  10,000,000  Negroes.  If  the  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States  should  pass  a  given  point  in  line,  every  third  man 
would  be  a  foreigner  or  the  son  of  a  foreigner. 

The  financial  panic  of  1907  turned  backward  the  tide 
temporarily,  but  the  current  is  again  rising;  and  in  1910 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  161 

it  once  more  passed  the  million  mark  by  41,507,  an  immense 
multitude,  representing  all  classes  and  conditions,  and 
forty-one  nationalities.  Only  by  comparison  can  we  ob- 
tain any  comprehension  of  this  vast  army.  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico,  the  two  states  last  admitted  to  the  Union, 
have  a  combined  population  of  531,655;  and  yet  we  added 
a  contingent  of  foreign  citizenship  in  one  year  of  twice 
their  population  combined.  If  Boston  and  Baltimore 
were  suddenly  blotted  out  of  existence,  in  twelve  months 
our  incoming  immigrants  could  repopulate  both  cities. 
Of  our  forty-eight  states,  seventeen  have  a  population  less 
than  the  number  we  added  by  immigration  in  1910;  while 
Connecticut,  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Nebraska  and 
Washington  have  each  less  than  the  year  1907  gave  us. 
If  they  should  join  hands,  these  immigrants  each  year  would 
reach  from  Atlanta  to  Baltimore,  or  nearly  across  the  great 
state  of  Texas.  If  they  should  stand  within  shouting 
distance  of  each  other,  they  could  easily  deliver  a  message 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  If  they  marched  in  single 
file  by  any  given  spot  at  the  rate  of  five  each  minute,  it 
would  require  six  months  for  the  procession  to  pass,  travel- 
ing day  and  night. 

The  Invading  Army. 

History  mentions  the  invasion  of  the  Goths  and  the 
Vandals  as  one  of  the  greatest  movements  of  ancient  or 
modern  times.  Yet  the  army  that  invaded  America  in 
1907  was  greater  than  the  estimated  number  of  those  that 
swept  over  Southern  Europe  and  devastated  Rome. 
Speaking  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  A.  D. 
70,  Josephus  estimates  that  the  number  who  perished 
during  the  siege  was  1,100,000;  and  this  he  adds  "exceeded 
all  the  destruction  that  either  men  or  God  ever  brought 
upon  the  world" — a  vast  multitude,  but  not  so  many  as 
there  were  immigrants  in  this  one  year.  It  is  said  that 
forty-six  nations  marched  beneath  the  ensign  of  the  Persian 


162  The  Task  That  Challenges 

king,  Xerxes,  and  his  land  and  naval  forces  aggregated 
2,315,000.  Herodotus  says  that  the  Hellespont  groaned 
for  seven  days  and  seven  nights  beneath  the  weight  of  the 
human  tide  that  Asia  was  pouring  into  Europe.  Yet 
these  numbers  are  surpassed  many  thousands  by  the 
fifty  nations  represented  in  the  multitude  that  entered 
our  gates  in  the  two  3'ears  of  1906  and  1907. 

Why  they  come,  and  why  the  stream  sometimes  widens 
and  sometimes  narrows,  though  never  ceasing,  is  largely 
determined  by  economic  conditions  here  and  abroad. 
The  famine  in  Ireland,  the  industrial  depression  in  Ger- 
many, the  exorbitant  taxation  in  Italy,  the  religious  per- 
secution in  Russia,  the  enforced  military  service,  depriving 
families  of  their  bread  winners,  and  the  overcrowded 
cities  and  low  wages  in  most  European  countries,  drive 
them  out  from  their  ancestral  homes.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  exaggerated  reports  of  American  abundance 
deepen  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Old  World  poor  with  their 
unbearable  conditions,  and  cause  them  to  turn  their  eyes 
longingly  to  our  favored  land,  and  sigh  for  its  freedom  and 
opportunity.  In  addition  to  these  motives,  the  great 
steamship  companies  maintain  hundreds  of  agents  through- 
out Europe  to  circulate  glowing  accounts  of  American 
prosperity,  under  the  necessity  of  packing  their  steerage 
decks  like  cattle,  to  increase  their  earnings.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  these  millions 
"are  drawn  hither  by  the  free  institutions  and  marvelous 
prosperity  of  our  country — the  chance  here  afforded  ever>' 
honest  toiler  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
or  the  exercise  of  his  intelligence."  Oppression  pushes, 
and  opportunity  pulls;  so  they  come,  3,500  a  day,  100,000 
a  month,  and  more  than  1,000,000  a  year. 

Careful  students  of  this  question  tell  us  that  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  immigration  temporarily 
affected  by  the  European  war  will  at  its  close  break  all 
records  in  a  flood  tide  which  will  perhaps  pour  upon  our 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  163 

shores  as  many  as  two  million  people  annually.  The 
countries  of  the  Old  World  are  becoming  more  and  more 
crowded,  and  are  unable  to  support  their  population  com- 
fortably; while  America  is  a  land  of  room  and  of  plenty. 
It  is  said  that  Europe  alone  could  send  us  3,000,000  a 
year,  300,000,000  this  century,  and  yet  increase  the  source 
of  supply;  but  this  statement  will  perhaps  hold  true  only 
after  the  continent  has  sufficiently  recovered  from  the 
present  devastating  war. 

Who  Are  They,  and  Whence  Do  They  Come'^ 

Until  1880  more  than  three-fifths  of  the  immigration 
was  from  the  British  Isles  and  Northern  Europe;  but  now 
75  per  cent,  comes  from  Southern  Europe.  This  is  called 
the  "new  immigration,"  because  the  source,  the  motives, 
the  customs,  the  character  and  the  ideals  of  this  stream 
are  flooding  our  cities  with  an  entireh'  different  type,  and 
introducing  a  new  problem  for  the  solution  of  the  thought- 
ful. Italy  leads  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  their  con- 
tribution to  our  citizenship  a\eraging  200,000  a  >ear 
and  occasionally  exceeding  that  number.  Russia  and  Aus- 
tria-Hungary furnish  us  each  160,000.  To  stand  at  our 
open  ports  and  take  account  of  the  nationalities  knocking 
for  admittance  would  be  to  call  the  roll  of  all  the  countries 
of  the  world — a  vast  conglomeration,  a  confusion  of  tongues 
that  w^ould  drown  the  tower  of  Babel  incident  in  this 
greater  Bedlam :  Bohemians,  Bulgarians,  Bosnians,  Bel- 
gians, Magyars,  Moravians,  Montenegrins,  Servians, 
Slovaks,  Slovenes,  Swiss,  Swedes,  Roumanians,  Russians, 
Poles,  Prussians,  Ruthenians,  Italians,  Lithuanians,  Her- 
zegovinians,  Hungarians,  Finns,  Flemish,  Croathians, 
Dalmatians,  Dutch,  Greeks  and  Jews — aliens  from  the 
Commonwealth  of  America  and  strangers  from  the  cove- 
nants of  our  fathers.  Are  we  able  to  digest  and  assimilate 
this  heterogeneous  mass,  and  transform  them  into  Ameri- 
cans  and   Christians?     Bevond   the   seas   thev  were   con- 


164  The  Task  Thai  Challenges 

fronted  with  the  problem  of  living;  transplanted  into  our 
midst  they  have  forced  upon  us  the  problem  of  our  national 
and  ecclesiastical  life. 

"These  peoples  whom  we  are  now  so  largely  drawing 
constitute  a  real  invading  army.  They  bring  with  them 
standards  and  ideals  which  are  vastly  different  from  our 
own.  Their  habits,  customs,  institutions,  ways  of  living, 
are  altogether  un-American.  It  is  interesting  to  try  to 
imagine  what  kind  of  a  place  the  United  States  would  now 
be  if  the  Poles  had  founded  Boston,  if  the  Italians  had 
settled  Virginia,  if  the  Slovaks  had  colonized  Ncav  York 
if  the  Lithuanians  had  established  Philadelphia,  and  the 
Jews  had  been  pioneers  in  the  Great  West.  Such  flights 
of  fancy  may  help  us  to  imagine  what  the  United  States  is 
liable  to  become  if  the  present  order  of  affairs  continues." 
— (The  Incoming  Millions.) 

''Unguarded  Gates.'' 

No  wonder  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  rang  the  alarm: 

"Wide  open  and  unguarded  stand  our  gates, 
And  through  them  press  a  wild,  motley  throng, 
Men  from  the  Volga  and  the  Tartan  steppes, 
Featureless  figures  of  the  Hoang-Ho, 
Malayan,  Scythian,  Teuton,  Kelt  and  Slav, 
Fleeing  the  Old  World's  poverty  and  scorn. 

"These,  bringing  with  them  unknown  gods  and  rites; 
Those,  tiger  passions,  here  to  stretch  their  claws. 
In  street  and  alley  what  strange  tongues  are  loud, 
Accents  of  malice  alien  to  our  air. 
Voices  that  once  the  Tower  of  Babel  knew! 

"O,  Liberty!  White  Goddess,  i3  it  well 
To  leave  thy  gates  unguarded!     On  thy  breast 
Fold  Sorrow's  children,  soothe  the  hurts  of  fate, 
Lift  the  down-trodden;  but  with  hand  of  steel 
Stay  those  who  to  thy  sacred  portals  come 
To  waste  the  gifts  of  freedom. 


Aniericd.  Tlir  McJlhuj  Pot  165 

"Have  a  care 
Lest  from  thy  brow  the  clustered  stars  lie  torn 
And  trampled  in  the  dust.     I'or  so  of  old 
The  thronging  Goth  and  Vandal  trampled  Rome; 
And  where  the  temples  of  the  Caesars  stood 
The  lean  wolf,  unmolested,  makes  his  lair." 

In  view  of  these  facts,  consider  the  peril  of  immigration, 
a  menace  to  our  country,  our  children,  and  our  Church. 
Either  we  must  assimilate  these  multitudes,  or  they  will 
still  further  corrupt  our  politics,  already  approaching  the 
danger  line.  Either  we  must  educate  them,  or  they  will 
destroy  the  foundations  upon  which  our  free  institutions 
rest.  Either  we  must  evangelize  them,  or  they  will  paganize 
our  children  and  our  children's  children.  The  peril  lies 
not  so  much  in  their  number  as  in  the  character  of  this 
invasion.  The  danger  is  due  to  the  quality  rather  than 
the  quantity.  In  colonial  times  and  until  recent  years, 
the  incoming  thousands  were  from  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, and  certain  sections  of  Northern  Europe.  Since 
1880  they  have  been  coming  from  Southern  and  Eastern 
Europe,  and  from  the  depths  of  Asia.  The  former  were 
of  our  own  blood  and  tongue,  the  same  in  thought  and 
training  as  the  founders  of  our  country.  So  long  as  the 
tide  of  immigration  continues  to  be  of  the  same  stock  as 
the  original,  all  is  well;  but  when  Southern  Europe  and 
Asia  open  their  flood  gates  and  begin  to  pour  forth  their 
countless  millions,  it  gives  us  pause  and  constrains  us  to 
look  to  the  future  with  apprehension. 

In  recent  years  30  per  cent,  of  the  aliens  admitted,  over 
fourteen  years  old,  could  neither  read  nor  write.  During 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1910,  an  army  of  312,000  illiterates, 
not  counting  the  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  en- 
tered this  land  of  the  free.  Just  imagine  a  population  of 
312,000,  with  no  use  whatever  for  books,  or  paper,  or  print- 
ing press — a  number  that  would  make  a  city  the  size  of 
Cincinnati  or  New  Orleans. 


166  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  securit\'  of  a  republic  rests  upon  the  intelligence  of 
the  people.  "In  every  republic,"  says  Dr.  Strong,  "there 
is  a  dead  line  of  ignorance  and  immorality,  and  when  the 
average  citizen  sinks  below  that  line,  free  institutions 
perish."  With  an  army  of  312,000  representing  the  ignor- 
ance, the  ideals,  and  the  povert\'  of  the  misgoverned  coun- 
tries of  the  Old  World,  being  annually  added  to  the  millions 
of  the  same  kind  already  here,  how  long  will  it  require  for 
America  to  reach  the  danger  line? 

Of  the  thirty-eight  largest  cities  in  the  United  States, 
thirty-three  have  a  majority  of  foreigners  or  those  of  foreign 
parentage,  being  practically  foreign  cities  on  American 
soil.  If  one  visits  London,  he  finds  English  people;  in 
Paris,  he  finds  French  people,  and  in  Berlin,  Germans; 
but  New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  other 
American  cities  contain  everything  else  but  Americans. 
The  census  of  1910  gave  New  York  1,926,900  of  foreign 
birth,  with  perhaps  as  man\'  of  foreign  parentage.  If 
these  aliens  distributed  themselves  throughout  the  country, 
our  problem  would  be  comparatively  easy,  and  our  peril 
less;  but  segregated  in  our  cities  as  "Little  Italy,"  "Little 
Poland,"  etc.,  they  resist  assimilation  into  the  body 
politic. 

"A  mere  glance  at  the  statistics  referring  to  the  destina- 
tion of  those  who  came  last  year  tells  the  story  of  where 
most  of  them  settled.  Of  the  1,000,000  admitted,  280,000 
gave  as  their  destination  New  York.  Most  of  them  will 
go  no  farther  than  greater  New  York  City — another  con- 
tribution to  that  heterogeneous  mass  of  humanity  already 
more  than  5,000,000  strong.  Four-fifths  of  the  present 
population  of  that  city  are  of  foreign  parentage  or  birth. 
Thirty-nine  different  languages  are  spoken  on  the  streets 
every  day,  and  newspapers  are  printed  in  eleven  of  them. 
More  than  a  million  of  this  number  are  Jews.  It  is  said 
that  more  Jews  land  in  New  York  City  every  five  years 
than    all    the    combined    membership    of    its    Protestant 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  167 

churches.  There  are  500,000  Itahans,  and  more  Germans 
than  in  any  city  of  German>-  except  BerHn.  There  are 
twice  as  many  Irish  as  in  Dubhn,  and  a  large  jiroportion 
of  other  nationahties.  The  ahen  vote  of  the  city  pre- 
dominates. In  fact,  there  are  in  the  city  90,000  more 
foreign  voters  than  native  born." — (Modern  Migration.) 

"A  short  ramble  in  New  York's  East  Side  takes  you 
through  various  colonies.  By  crossing  the  Bowery  you 
enter  first  the  vast  Jewish  colony,  and  then  walking  on, 
find  yourself  in  Italy;  going  northeast,  you  enter  Ger- 
many; circling  around  to  the  south,  you  pass  through  a 
Negro  settlement,  and  a  section  of  Ireland,  until  you  come 
to  Syria;  if  >ou  continue  your  tour  you  may  visit  Bohemia, 
China,  and  Greece.  Nor  have  you  exhausted  the  list. 
You  will  also  find  these  colonies  in  our  other  large  cities. 
As  Jacob  Riis  said,  the  only  colony  you  cannot  find  in  New 
York  is  a  distinctively  American  colony." — (Incoming 
Millions.) 

Peril  to  the  Church. 

This  is  anything  but  reassuring,  yet  the  greatest  peril 
of  all  is  that  which  threatens  the  Church.  Crowding 
into  down-town  sections  of  our  cities,  where  the  religious 
struggle  is  already  well-nigh  hopeless,  they  force  our  evan- 
gelical churches  to  move  out,  leaving  a  larger  population 
and  yet  fewer  religious  forces  to  cope  with  the  powers  of 
evil. 

The  majority  of  these  people  have  been  brought  up  in 
beliefs  that  are  either  fundamentally  erroneous  and  full 
of  superstitions,  or  they  are  infidels  and  atheistic.  At 
least  80  per  cent,  of  our  present  immigration  is  non- 
Protestant,  being  largely  Roman  and  Greek  Catholics, 
and  Jews,  who  have  brought  with  them  as  their  contribu- 
tion to  our  national  life  "the  Continental  idea  of  the 
Sabbath,  the  nihilist's  idea  of  government,  the  communist's 


168  The  Task  That  Challenges 

idea  of  property,  the  socialist's  idea  of  the  family,  and  the 
Pagan's  idea  of  religion." 

It  is  the  Catholic  and  the  Jew  who  have  driven  the 
Bible  from  our  public  schools,  and  forbid  its  being  taught 
to  your  child  and  mine.  It  is  the  Jew  who  denies  that  this 
is  a  Christian  country,  either  in  fact  or  in  purpose.  It  is 
this  combination,  helped  on  by  indifferent  and  careless 
Protestants,  that  has  broken  down  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
the  hope  of  the  American  working  man,  and  has  given 
us  instead  the  lawless  Continental  Sunday,  changing  God's 
holy  day  into  a  reckless,  rioting  holiday.  The  Christian 
Sabbath  is  the  bulwark  of  Christian  civilization,  and  the 
foundation  of  religious  worship.  "If  the  foundations  be 
destroyed,  what  can  the  righteous  do?" 

During  the  past  ten  years,  through  immigration,  the 
Catholic  Church  has  grown  twice  as  fast  as  all  the  Protest- 
ant churches  combined;  and  the  United  States  statistics 
covering  a  period  of  the  past  fifteen  years  reveal  a  Catholic 
increase  of  61  per  cent,  to  our  Protestant  growth  of  39 
per  cent.  There  are  twelve  states  in  which  the  Roman 
Catholic  outnumbers  all  the  Protestant  churches  combined. 
This  is  true  of  every  New  England  state.  In  Rhode 
Island,  for  example,  the  Roman  Catholics  have  74  per 
cent,  of  the  total  church  membership.  Protestants  are 
in  the  minority  in  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  other 
Northern  and  Western  states.  In  San  Francisco,  out  of  a 
population  of  half  a  million,  there  are  only  12,000  Protestant 
church  members.  In  New  York  City,  where  a  positive 
proportionate  decrease  of  Protestant  members  in  the  past 
decade  is  revealed,  the  present  percentage  of  church  mem- 
bers is  8.55  per  cent,  of  the  population.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  immigration  has  not  turned  Southward  in  great 
streams,  Louisiana  is  at  present  the  only  Southern  state 
where  Catholics  outnumber  Protestants;  but  the  tide  is 
now  turning,  and  we  shall  soon  be  facing  the  peril  which 
threatens  the  North. 


Auieyica,  The  Melting  Pot  169 

Rome  has  already  proclaimed  the  conquest  of  America, 
and  the  Pope  has  taken  the  United  States  out  of  the  cate- 
gory of  missionary  countries,  and  classified  it  as  Christian, 
from  a  Catholic  standpoint,  along  with  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  Italy.  Recently  three  new  Cardinals  for  the  United 
States  have  been  created,  and  the  return  of  one  to  New 
York  after  being  made  "a  Prince  of  the  Church"  was  the 
signal  for  an  ovation,  during  which  50,000  people  stood  in 
line  four  miles  long,  a  mark  of  honor  which  perhaps  would 
not  be  accorded  to  any  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe. 
We  speak  of  the  bigotry  and  oppression  of  Spain  and  other 
Catholic  countries,  but  do  we  realize  that  there  are  ten 
times  as  many  convents  in  the  United  States  as  there  are 
in  Spain,  and  fifty  times  as  many  schools,  conducted  by 
friars,  priests  and  nuns,  in  which  millions  of  American 
children  are  being  taught  their  pernicious  doctrines! 

Rome  makes  no  secret  of  her  purpose  and  intention  to 
control  this  stronghold  of  Protestantism,  and  immigration 
is  placing  the  means  in  her  hand  to  enable  her  to  realize 
her  ambition.  If  Rome  could  have  held  her  emigrant 
children  in  the  past;  if  we  had  not  been  able  to  evangelize 
multitudes  of  them ;  long  since  the  conquest  would  have  been 
complete.  Now  the  immigrant  tide  is  bearing  on  its 
bosom  Romanism  in  such  force  that  we  are  unable  to  cope 
with  it;  and  worst  of  all,  the  Church  is  either  too  blind  or 
too  indifferent  to  rally  her  strength  and  meet  "the  enemy 
that  comes  in  like  a  flood."  Who  can  forecast  the  tre- 
mendous struggle  that  will  probably  be  waged  in  this  coun- 
try for  religious  liberty?  Who  can  estimate  its  influence 
upon  the  world?  If  Rome  obtains  possession  of  the  United 
States,  there  will  be  no  "evangelization  of  the  world  in 
this  generation,"  nor  for  many  generations  to  come;  and 
it  may  postpone  the  final  triumph  of  the  truth  indefinitely. 
"As  goes  America,  so  goes  the  world." 


170  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Compensations  that  Counterbalance. 

Others  more  optimistic  insist  that  it  is  possible  to  over- 
estimate the  danger;  or  at  least  that  there  are  compensa- 
tions which  counterbalance  the  peril.  Multitudes  of 
these  immigrants  are  valuable  material  in  the  rough  state, 
which  may  be  shaped  and  polished  for  building  substan- 
tially the  fortunes  of  the  future  Republic.  After  due 
investigation,  Charles  Stelzle  asserts:  "Dr.  Edward  A. 
Steiner,  who  knows  more  about  the  human  side  of  the 
immigration  problem  than  any  other  man  in  America, 
recently  declared  that  5,000  strong-limbed,  healthy-bodied 
immigrants  landing  at  Ellis  Island  are  more  resourceful 
than  as  many  average  college  graduates  would  be — and 
Steiner  knows,  for  he  is  a  college  professor.  They  come 
to  us,  most  of  these  immigrants,  after  their  own  countries 
have  paid  the  cost  of  their  education.  Robert  Watchorn, 
for  several  years  Commissioner  of  Immigration  at  Ellis 
Island,  once  remarked:  'If  you  give  the  Italian,  the  Hun- 
garian and  the  Russian  Jew  half  a  chance,  he  will  make  the 
English  and  the  Irish  look  like  thirty  cents.'  And  pre- 
sumably Mr.  Watchorn  knew  what  he  was  talking  about, 
for  he  handled  literally  millions  of  immigrants." 

It  is  not  so  much  the  immigrant  himself  as  his  child, 
which  constitutes  our  greatest  peril.  He  himself  has  been 
disciplined  in  the  school  of  adversity-,  and  is  accustomed 
to  the  role  of  contributing  his  share  of  the  world's  work  in 
return  for  his  daily  bread.  His  child  is  being  moulded 
by  the  environment  of  American  life  and  example.  Unless 
trained  by  public  school  and  reached  by  Sabbath  school 
or  Church,  he  will  drift  into  the  ranks  of  the  criminal 
classes.  Are  we  to  be  more  concerned  about  their  peril 
to  us  or  our  responsibility  for  them?  No  man  knows  the 
conditions  better  than  Stelzle,  and  he  emphasizes  this 
aspect  of  the  case: 

"The  children  of  immigrants  of  the  first  generation  are 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  171 

a  greater  problem  and  menace  than  the  immigrant  him- 
self. Unrestrained  and  unrestricted  on  account  of  the 
ignorance  of  parents,  and  seeing  unlawful  pleasures  abun- 
dant, they  often  find  their  way  to  the  saloon,  the  cheap 
theatre,  and  even  viler  places,  frequently  ending  with  the 
penitentiary.  The  criminal  classes  are  largely  augmented 
from  among  these  children  of  respectable,  hard-working 
foreigners,  and  any  movement  which  seeks  to  help  them 
should  be  heartily  supported. 

"Industrial  classes  and  clubs  for  the  boys  and  girls  will 
give  them  better  motives  and  higher  incentives.  The 
kindergarten  is  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  helping  the 
children.  Trained  to  use  head  and  hand  and  heart  aright 
during  the  years  between  three  and  six,  these  lessons  will 
go  with  them  all  through  life.  Incidentally,  this  ministry 
to  the  children  will  win  the  hearts  of  the  parents,  whose 
own  lives  are  brightened  by  the  cheer  of  the  kindergarten 
trophies  which  are  brought  home  by  the  child  and  displayed 
with  pride  by  the  older  folks.  But  it  is  the  personal  in- 
fluence of  the  teacher  or  the  leader — unconsciously  ex- 
erted— which  counts  for  most  in  children's  work.  Im- 
portant, then,  to  secure  men  and  women  of  character, 
who  may  be  entrusted  with  the  destinies  of  those  com- 
mitted to  their  charge." 

Opportunities   Unparalleled. 

If  there  is  ground  for  apprehension  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  these  hordes  invading  our  country,  surely  there  is 
some  compensation  in  the  thought  of  the  unparalleled 
opportunities  they  present  of  evangelizing  the  world 
through  their  instrumentality.  "A  million  new  inhabitants 
annually,  means  a  million  new  opportunities."  It  means 
more  than  that;  for  each  new  inhabitant  touches  a  dozen 
at  least  in  some  far  distant  land;  and  it  suggests  that  God, 
who  continually  guides  the  destiny  of  nations  and  the  move- 
ments of  the  people,  is  bringing  them  to  us  for  some  great 


172  The  Task  That  Challenges 

and  wise  purpose,  connected  with  the  advancement  of 
His  kingdom  on  earth. 

"Some  years  ago  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson  pubHshed  a 
thrilling  book,  entitled  'The  Crisis  of  Missions.'  The 
Crisis  of  Missions  of  his  day  came  with  the  opening  of  the 
nations  to  the  Bible  and  the  missionary.  Were  he  writing 
that  book  to-day,  he  would  doubtless  present  to  us  as  the 
'Modern  Crisis  of  Missions,'  this  marvelous  inrush  of  the 
nations  to  America — a  land  where  already  the  Bible  and 
the  Church  have  been  established.  This  great  movement 
of  foreign  peoples  to  our  country  is  indeed  a  much  more 
wonderful  providence  than  the  opening  of  Oriental  doors. 
It  is  another  great  step  in  world-wide  evangelization,  and 
carries  with  it  to  the  Christian  Church  a  mission  of  in- 
finite proportion,  marked  by  an  unequalled  opportunity, 
an  unavoidable  obligation,  and  an  unlimited  outcome." — 
(Modern  Migration.) 

Scattered  among  the  heathen  nations  of  earth  we  have 
a  vast  army  of  over  100,000  missionaries,  including  the 
native  helpers  engaged  in  their  evangelization;  and  yet 
every  time  through  their  ministrations  a  heathen  is  con- 
verted, at  least  ten  immigrants  land  at  our  ports.  In  the 
United  States,  we  have  over  170,000  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
and  over  200,000  churches;  and  yet  every  time  a  convert  is 
added  to  any  church  at  home,  at  least  two  aliens  come 
from  abroad,  forever  augmenting  our  task.  It  is  true  that 
this  influx  does  not  bring  all  heathen,  but  many  are  pagan 
at  least  in  influence,  and  almost  all,  even  if  nominally 
Christian,  are  thoroughly  irreligious.  Only  18  per  cent, 
of  them  belong  to  any  evangelical  church.  Many  nominal 
Catholics  are  overjoyed  to  throw  off  all  religious  restraint. 
Multitudes  are  worse  than  heathen,  being  avowed  anar- 
chists, socialists,  nihilists,  infidels  and  atheists;  but  all 
have  immortal  souls;  and  their  coming  to  America  gives 
to  many  their  first  opportunity  of  coming  in  contact  with 
Christianity    and    Christ.     Is    it    any    wonder    that    Dr. 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  173 

Robert  Stuart  MaeArthur,  pastor  of  a  great  metropolitan 
Baptist  church  of  New  York,  said:  "In  proportion  to  terri- 
tory, New  York  City  is  the  greatest  foreign  mission  field 
on  the  globe?"  Heathenism  is  invading  our  country  at 
all  points.  Hindoo  temples,  Chinese  joss  houses,  Theoso- 
phist  circles,  and  Babist  philosophy  are  in  evidence  every- 
where; and  the  battle  with  heathenism  is  being  transferred 
to  America. 

All  this  constitutes  a  tremendous  risk  to  our  Christian 
life;  but  shall  we  admit  that  Christianity  is  unable  to  cope 
with  the  situation,  or  shall  we  lull  ourselves  to  sleep  in 
carnal  security,  fancying  that  there  is  no  real  danger ,■' 
Is  not  the  opportunity  of  reaching  these  multitudes  worth 
all  the  risk  involved?  During  the  nineteenth  century, 
that  which  characterized  the  life  of  the  Church  was  its 
zeal  in  sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  It  may  be  part 
of  our  punishment  for  not  sending  fast  enough  that  the 
twentieth  century  is  sending  the  heathen  to  us  in  ever 
increasing  numbers.  It  is  all  too  sudden,  and  the  Church 
is  too  dazed  to  recognize  the  changed  conditions,  but  the 
awakening  must  come.  The  issues  at  stake  are  too  great 
to  be  ignored  or  neglected. 

The  American  Missionary  Society  states  the  case  in 
language  as  strong  as  it  is  striking: 

"The  greatest  Foreign  Mission  land  on  the  globe  to-day 
is  our  own  America.  Here  we  do  not  go  in  search  of  the 
millions;  the  millions  come  to  us.  We  are  not  compelled 
to  learn  their  language;  they  are  eager  to  learn  ours.  We 
are  not  obliged  to  conform  to  alien  customs;  they  are  here 
to  adopt  ours.  We  are  not  a  little  group  engulfed  in  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  alien  faith;  we  are  the  majority.  Our 
faith  is  engrained  in  the  very  fibre  of  the  government, 
established  in  the  customs  of  the  land.  These  strangers 
from  all  the  shores  of  the  world  are  here  cut  loose  from  their 
native  governments  and  religious  customs.  A  hiatus 
between  the  old  and  the  new  exists  in  both  their  political 


174  The  Task  That  Challenges 

and  religious  thinking.  That  hiatus,  that  pause  in  thought, 
is  the  open  door  for  the  entrance  of  new  and  better  things. 
We  are  not  compelled  to  uproot  and  displace  old  established 
beliefs.  That  process  is  already  begun  by  the  very  fact 
of  their  migration.  They  are  in  the  pioneering,  adventur- 
ous mood.  They  expect  new  experiences,  different  condi- 
tions. This  is  the  great  open  world-field  for  the  Church. 
While  she  need  not  neglect  her  foreign  markets,  she  must 
not  forget  hat  the  markets  of  the  world  are  pressing  to 
her  doors,  asking  for  her  wares.  In  stable,  office,  mill  and 
shop  these  millions  are  here — Americans  in  the  making." 
This  opportunity  carries  with  it  a  tremendous  responsi- 
bility. The  Church  is  beginning  to  recognize  that  "oppor- 
tunity is  but  another  way  of  spelling  obligation."  All 
the  great  Protestant  churches,  through  their  Home  Mission 
Boards,  are  now  entering  this  field,  and  Home  and  Foreign 
Missions  have  indeed  become  one  in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory. 
To  be  a  foreign  missionary  now  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to 
leave  home.  One  need  but  go  down  town,  or  perhaps 
just  across  the  street,  to  touch  heathenism  in  its  primitive 
essence. 

Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,    U.  S. 

The  limits  of  this  chapter  do  not  permit  an  extended 
account  of  the  work  carried  on  within  the  United  States 
in  well-nigh  all  the  languages  of  earth,  but  we  can  scarcely 
avoid  a  passing  glance  at  the  work  of  our  own  Church 
among  these  foreign-speaking  people.  Our  first  Foreign 
Mission  work  at  home,  in  point  of  time  and  in  extent  of 
operations,  was  in  behalf  of  the  Mexicans  in  Texas,  at  one 
time  carried  on  exclusively  within  the  bounds  of  one 
presbytery,  but  that  one  the  largest  in  territory  in  our 
Assembly. 

The  Presbytery  of  Western  Texas  embraces  fifty  large 
counties,  covering  an  area  of  70,740  square  miles,  and  con- 
taining a  population  of  nearly  a  half  million  people.     It  is 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  175 

as  large  in  area  as  the  states  of  Virginia  and  West  Virginia 
together.  Roughly  estimated,  it  measures  in  straight 
lines  three  hundred  miles  north  and  south  and  five  hundred 
miles  from  northwest  to  southeast.  In  fact,  it  can  be 
said  that  it  has  no  western  boundary — it  can  take  in  the 
entire  Republic  of  Mexico. 

Bordering  on  a  foreign  country-  for  the  length  of  seven 
hundred  miles,  situated  as  it  is  at  "the  meeting  of  the 
waters,"  and  with  a  heterogeneous  population,  the  diffi- 
culties and  the  importance  of  its  Home  missionary  work 
cannot  be  exaggerated.  The  distinction  between  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions  cannot  be  consistently  maintained 
where  only  a  river  separates  the  two.  Beyond  the  Rio 
Grande,  we  call  the  work  among  the  Mexicans  "Foreign 
Missions,"  and  on  this  side  we  classify  it  as  "Home  Mis- 
sions"; but  the  work,  no  matter  how  designated,  is  for  the 
same  people,  speaking  the  same  language,  with  the  same 
human  needs;  and  the  effort  is  to  give  them  the  same  gospel. 
Whether  for  our  weal  or  woe,  certainly  for  their  intellectual 
benefit  and  temporal  well-being,  the  Mexicans  are  coming 
into  the  United  States  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  the 
number  in  Texas  being  estimated  now  at  not  less  than 
450,000. 

There  are  towns  on  the  border  where  the  English  lan- 
guage is  rarely  spoken ;  there  are  county  schools  where  the 
children  learn  more  Spanish  than  English.  There  are 
in  the  state  more  than  a  dozen  newspapers  published  in 
Spanish.  In  San  Antonio,  the  metropolis  of  Southwestern 
Texas,  there  are  more  than  30,000  Mexicans,  with  30,000 
more  in  the  surrounding  country  immediately'  adjacent. 
In  one  of  the  largest  public  schools  of  the  city  there  are 
more  Mexican  pupils  than  American. 

Texas-Mexican  Missions. 

The  Mexican  work  was  organized  when  the  Presbytery 
of   Western   Texas   ordained   and   installed    an   evangelist 


176  The  Task  That  Challenges 

in  April,  1892.  At  that  time  we  had  but  one  church  with 
fifty-nine  members.  This  original  church  at  San  Marcos, 
Texas,  has  increased  to  four  churches  in  the  surrounding 
country,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  four  hundred.  Each 
church  has  its  Sabbath  School,  Young  People's  Society, 
and  Woman's  Missionary  Society.  Services  are  held  every 
Sabbath,  conducted  by  elders  in  the  absence  of  pastor. 
Each  congregation  has  its  own  house  of  w^orship,  the  mem- 
bers themselves  doing  most  of  the  w^ork  in  their  construc- 
tion. As  instances  of  the  zeal  and  consecration  of  our 
Mexican  elders,  two  illustrations  will  suffice:  One  elder 
goes  nearly  every  Sabbath  sixteen  miles  on  horseback  to 
church  to  conduct  Sunday  school  and  services,  while  an- 
other goes  once  a  month  seventy-five  miles  in  his  own  con- 
veyance, at  his  own  expense,  and  without  any  pecuniary 
remuneration,  to  hold  services  for  a  week  or  ten  days. 

This  work  has  been  so  marvelously  blessed  of  God  that 
in  1908  the  Synod  of  Texas  organized  these  Mexican 
churches  into  the  Texas-Mexican  Presbytery,  which  to- 
day contains  twenty-two  churches,  has  seventeen  mis- 
sionaries, twelve  hundred  communicants,  and  sixteen 
chapels,  with  property  valued  at  $50,000.  Recently  an 
industrial  school  has  been  erected  at  Kingsville,  Texas, 
where  Mrs.  King  donated  several  hundred  acres  of  land 
for  the  purpose,  and  where  a  suitable  plant  must  be  erected 
at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  $25,000  to  educate  the  Mexican 
youth  for  future  leadership  in  the  Church  and  for  intelligent 
citizenship  in  the  state. 

The  Texas-Mexican  Presbytery  conducts  annually  a 
camp-meeting  attended  by  more  than  1,000  Mexicans, 
resulting  usually  in  the  conversion  of  forty  or  fifty  persons. 
Additions  to  its  churches  annually  exceed  the  number 
added  to  the  average  American  Presbytery.  This  is  the 
most  successful  mission  work  undertaken  by  any  denomina- 
tion for  the  Mexicans,  and  the  credit  is  largely  due  to  the 
faithful  work  of   Rev.   Walter  S.   Scott  and   Rev.   R.    D. 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  177 

Campbell  and  our  native  pastors.  More  recently  Rev.  C. 
R.  Womeldorf  has  established  a  substantial  mission  for 
Mexicans  at  El  Paso,  Texas. 

French. 

Missionary  work  is  conducted  for  foreign-speaking  people 
in  various  other  cities.  In  New  Orleans  there  are  two 
German  churches,  which  began  as  missionary  enterprises, 
but  are  now  self-supporting.  In  the  same  city  we  have  an 
Italian  Mission  with  two  Sabbath  schools,  a  French  church 
in  the  city,  and  several  missions  in  the  state  among  the 
400,000  French-speaking  people.  But  there  are  yet  eight 
counties  without  a  Protestant  church,  and  several  with 
only  one.  A  Hungarian  church  has  been  organized  at 
Arpadhon,  La.,  which  has  its  own  building  and  a  native 
Hungarian  pastor.  Mission  Sabbath  schools  are  conducted 
also  for  the  Chinese  and  the  Syrians,  the  latter  in  charge  of 
Mrs.  Mogobgob,  principal  of  a  public  school  in  Louisiana, 
where  the  reading  text-book  is  the  Arabic  Bible. 

Italian. 

In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  an  Italian  Mission  was  begun 
July  6,  1908.  It  has  a  plant  valued  at  $16,000,  a  native 
Italian  pastor,  with  an  average  attendance  at  Sabbath 
school  of  125;  kindergarten,  30;  and  a  sewing  school, 
boy's  club,  girl's  club,  cooking  class,  and  English  class. 

In  the  Birmingham  District  of  Alabama  we  have  an 
Italian  Mission  at  Ensley  and  at  Pratt  City,  with  day 
school,  kindergarten,  night  school  for  adults,  Sabbath 
school,  and  preaching  by  a  native  Italian  pastor. 

Cuban. 

In  Tampa,  Fla.,  among  20,000  Cubans,  we  have  estab- 
lished a  successful  mission,  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  Eladio 
Hernandez,  a  nati\e  Cuban   pastor,  with  a  Sabbath  school 


178 


The  Task  That  Challenges 


SAMPLES  OF 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
IN   AMERICA 


Promising 

Mexican 

Young 

People. 


J^  \  ~M 


Little 
Foreigners 
in    the 
Birmingham 
District. 


Playtime  at  the 
Cuban  Mission, 
Ybor  City,  Fla. 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  179 

reaching  at  one  time  an  enrollment  of  247,  a  Christian 
Endeavor  Society,  and  gospel  ser\ices  twice  a  week,  largely 
attended.  The  services  are  conducted  in  cheap  tempor- 
ary structure.  Its  great  need  for  a  successful  prosecution 
of  the  work,  at  the  present  time,  is  a  proper  equipment. 

Bohemian  and  Others. 

In  the  state  of  Virginia  we  have  a  regularly  organized 
church  near  Petersburg,  for  the  Bohemians,  and  its  nati\'e 
pastor  is  Rev.  J.  A.  Kohout,  who  has  established  Missions 
at  several  other  promising  points.  In  his  absence,  con- 
ducting serA'ices  at  other  mission  stations,  the  elders  very 
acceptably  fill  his  place,  conducting  religious  worship  for 
the  people.  A  Russian  church  has  been  organized  at 
Hopewell,  Va.,  where  the  work  was  started  by  Mr.  Kohout, 
with  Rev.  George  Philipsky  as  native  pastor.  Rev. 
Benjamin  Csutoros  is  engaged  in  missionary  work  among 
the  Hungarians  at  Norton,  Va.,  and  other  nearby  stations, 
where  a  good  work  has  been  built  up.  Rev.  E.  E.  Von 
Pechy  is  laboring  among  the  Hungarians  in  the  camps  in 
the  vicinity  of  Holden,  W.  Va.  As  the  men  move  from 
place  to  place,  it  is  hard  to  conserve  results,  but  a  sub- 
stantial work  is  being  maintained. 

A  Syrian  Mission  is  conducted  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  care  of 
Miss  Helen  Burbank,  which  has  a  flourishing  Sunday 
school,  and  various  week-day  activities. 

Only  within  the  past  few  years  has  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee in  i\tlanta  felt  justified  in  enlarging  its  work  among 
these  foreign-speaking  people,  and  yet  at  the  present  time 
it  is  supporting,  in  whole  or  in  part,  eighty  missionaries 
among  them,  and  preaching  the  gospel  in  eleven  different 
languages — perhaps  as  many  as  were  miraculously  spoken 
by  the  Apostles  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

It  is  very  evident  that,  if  the  same  amount  of  money 
were  expended  on  these  foreigners  in  our  midst  that  we 
are  expending  on  those  beyond  the  seas,  if  the  same  num- 


180  TJie  Task  That  Challenges 

l)er  of  consecrated  missionaries  would  but  dedicate  their 
life  to  this  work,  and  if  we  would  but  meet  them  in  the 
same  spirit  that  characterized  the  attitude  of  Christ 
toward  the  needy,  the  world  would  be  amazed  at  the  results. 
The  following  is  but  a  specimen  of  many  similar  cases: 
"In  Italy  and  Sicily  to-day  there  are  no  less  than  sixteen 
Protestant  churches  organized  by  people  who  have  been 
taught  the  Word  of  God  in  America.  Two  of  these 
churches  are  the  direct  results  of  United  Presbyterian 
influences,  one  at  Altavilla  Topina,  near  Naples,  the  other 
at  Castel  del  Piendice,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
east  of  Rome.  These  churches  were  started  by  men  con- 
verted in  the  United  Presbyterian  Missions  of  America. 
We  are  told  that  they  are  the  means  of  beginning  and  fos- 
tering religious  work  and  life  in  their  respective  communi- 
ties, and  that  their  services  are  well  attended  and  much  in- 
terest shown.  It  has  developed  that  the  work  being  done 
in  one  of  our  cities  by  a  sister  denomination  has  been  the 
means  of  establishing  two  Italian  Protestant  churches  in 
Italy,  which,  in  turn,  have  been  instrumental  in  establish- 
ing two  other  Italian  Missions  in  this  country,  through 
their  members  coming  to  America.  All  over  Europe  simi- 
lar results  of  American  Christian  Mission  Work  abound." 
— (Modern  Migration.) 

Our  Church  has  assumed  a  responsibility  for  twenty- 
five  million  heathen.  Is  there  any  reason  why  we  should 
not  find  some  of  these  among  the  thirty  millions  in  the 
United  States  who  are  either  of  foreign  birth  or  foreign 
parentage?  In  saving  the  heathen  among  us  we  are  sav- 
ing our  own  Nation,  which  it  is  estimated  will  number 
500,000,000  before  the  close  of  the  present  century. 

Returning  as  Foreign  Missiofiaries. 

If  the  influx  of  these  myriads  challenge  the  Church  by 
reason  of  the  opportunity  presented  at  our  own  door, 
how   much  grander  is  the  opportunity  to  reach  through 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  181 

them  all  the  kindreds  of  earth,  related  to  our  Nation 
by  reason  of  their  incorporation  into  our  body  politic. 
The  possibility  of  a  reflex  influence  on  the  country  from 
which  they  come  is  incalculable.  E\ery  year  at  least  20 
per  cent,  return  to  their  former  home,  and  statistics  show 
that  in  one  year  450,000  returned,  carrying  impressions 
of  America  and  of  Christianity,  or  the  lack  of  it.  None  of 
them  returned  exactly  the  same  as  when  they  came. 
Contact  with  Western  civilization  and  Protestantism  has 
changed  them  for  better  or  for  worse.  They  return  carry- 
ing the  new  lessons  learned,  the  new  impressions  received, 
and  new  thoughts  stirring  within  them,  to  become  mission- 
aries for  good  or  for  evil.  In  mountain  villages  far  from 
seaport,  or  into  the  heart  of  the  great  throbbing  centers  of 
crowded  cities,  these  returned  immigrants  carry  the  in- 
fluence of  their  residence  in  America,  whether  the  paralyz- 
ing touch  of  saloon  and  gambling  den,  the  inspiration  of 
modern  business  methods  and  public  schools,  or  the  touch 
of  a  new  and  higher  Christian  life. 

It  is  said,  "American  ideals,  like  leaven,  keep  Europe 
in  a  turmoil."  What  is  the  explanation  of  the  transforma- 
tion of  Japan,  with  its  great  daily  press,  magnificent  pub- 
lic school  system,  railroads,  telegraph,  electric  cars,  and 
every  contrivance  of  modern  civilization?  The  flower  of 
Japanese  youth,  educated  in  America,  has  electrified  that 
Nation.  What  is  the  meaning  of  China's  revolution  and 
republican  ideals  but  the  new  inspiration  from  contact 
with  Western  life  and  thought?  Sun  Yet  Sen,  the  first 
President  of  the  Chinese  Republic,  makes  the  remarkable 
statement  that  of  the  seventeen  leaders  associated  with 
him  in  China's  Revolution,  fifteen  of  them  were  educated 
in  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain;  and  China  has  com- 
plimented the  United  States  by  adopting  the  Constitution 
of  Oklahoma,  modified  to  suit  the  needs  of  this  great  East- 
ern  Republic. 

What  means  the  uprising  in  Turkey,  Spain,   Portugal, 


182  The  Task  That  Challenges 

and  other  European  provinces  but  the  spirit  of  American 
independence  and  ideals  now  beginning  to  pervade  all 
classes?  If  the  reflex  of  the  American  public  school 
system  can  transform  "the  unchanging  empire  of  the 
Orient"  and  the  dead  communities  of  Europe,  why  should 
not  the  Gospel  of  Christ  leaven  the  mass  of  immigration, 
and  by  means  of  it  realize  the  modern  dream  of  missionary 
aspiration,  "the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion?" From  a  human  standpoint,  it  is  the  only  feasible 
possibility. 

Edward  Steiner,  who  aroused  the  country  by  his  book, 
"On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant,"  to  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding him  here  in  his  new  home,  has  startled  the  Church 
in  the  companion  treatise,  "The  Immigrant  Tide,"  as  he 
permits  us  to  see  the  conditions  created  in  all  European 
villages  by  the  presence  of  these  quondam  Americans. 
He  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  one  can  travel  two 
thousand  miles  in  Eastern  Europe  and  Western  Asia  and 
not  find  a  village  in  which  there  is  not  at  least  one  Ameri- 
can citizen.  "Baron  Levy  was  about  to  address  a  political 
meeting  in  a  little  Slovak  village.  He  had  scarcely  be- 
gun before  he  was  requested  to  speak  English,  as  the  in- 
habitants did  not  know  Magyar.  Seeking  an  explanation, 
the  baron  found  that  80  per  cent,  of  the  population  of 
3,000  were  returned  immigrants  from  America."  Steiner 
describes  the  transformation  of  his  native  village  in  the 
Carpathian  Mountains,  once  the  most  unprogressive,  but 
now  through  the  influence  of  returned  immigrants  throb- 
bing with  American  business  methods  and  ideals.  In 
some  instances  during  his  visit  to  this  section,  he  heard 
men  preaching  the  evangelical  gospel  with  a  fiery  eloquence 
unsurpassed  anywhere,  as  the  result  of  their  contact  with 
Protestant  Christianity  in  America.  He  challenges  the 
churches  of  the  United  States  to  take  advantage  of  their 
opportunity  by  evangelizing  our  foreigners,  in  order  that 
as  they  scatter  throughout  all  countries  they  may  evan- 
gelize the  world. 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  183 

One  or  two  illustrations  will  serve  to  show  the  benefit 
of  this  reflex  work.  A  convert  in  our  Italian  Mission  in 
New  Orleans  has  returned  to  his  home  in  Sicily  and  opened 
a  mission  there.  The  lamented  Dr.  A.  T.  Graybill  stated 
that  his  church  at  Linares,  Mexico,  was  founded  largely 
through  the  influence  of  a  Mexican  converted  in  one  of 
our  Mexican  churches  in  Texas. 

Dr.  Ward  Piatt  furnished  a  striking  illustration:  "Chinese 
Christians  in  one  denomination  in  this  country,  at  their 
own  initiative  and  expense,  opened  and  maintain  a  Chris- 
tian Mission  in  China.  When  we  consider  the  future  of 
Japan  and  China  as  related  to  the  coming  kingdom,  is  it 
not  providential  that  on  our  own  shores  we  may  so  deal 
with  our  Eastern  brothers  as  to  produce  results  more  far- 
reaching  than  with  the  same  number  in  China  itself?  Is 
not  a  fair  gauge  of  how  much  we  care  about  saving  our 
brother  across  the  sea,  the  interest  we  take  in  him  when  he 
is  here?"  The  world-wide  influence  of  Pentecost  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  "there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews, 
devout  men,  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven."  The 
messages  of  the  Apostle  were  repeated  everywhere,  and  the 
seeds  of  divine  truth  were  scattered  to  the  four  winds  of 
heaven  to  germinate  and  bear  fruit  in  every  clime. 

These  returning  immigrants  are  all  missionaries,  per- 
haps not  in  our  acceptance  of  the  term,  for  no  church 
authorizes  them  to  speak  for  it,  and  no  denomination 
would  stand  for  their  message  to  their  kindred;  but  they 
are  our  messengers,  whether  we  will  or  no.  Few  tell  of 
the  love  of  Christ  that  radiated  in  the  lives  of  Christian 
people,  who  gave  them  the  friendly  grasp  of  hand,  and 
echoed  the  words  of  Christ.  What  will  the  vast  majority 
tell  of  the  neglect  of  the  church  to  touch  them  for  good, 
of  the  sham  and  hypocrisy  of  formal  Christianity,  of  the 
slums  of  our  cities  reeking  with  filth  and  saturated  with 
wickedness!  Is  it  any  wonder  that  our  foreign  missionaries 
dread  the  American  traveler  and  the  returned  immigrants? 


184  The  Task  That  Challenges 

How  can  we  expect  to  evangelize  the  world  if  we  send  out 
at  our  expense  comparatively  few  missionaries  to  other 
nations,  while  we  are  sending  at  their  own  expense  thou- 
sands of  others  to  contradict  our  missionaries  and  hinder 
them  in  their  efforts  to  evangelize  the  world? 

Rev.  Chas.  E.  Schaeffer,  Secretary  of  Home  Missions 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  in  his  ad- 
mirable treatise  entitled,  "Our  Home  Mission  Work," 
furnishes  this  incident  showing  the  neutralizing  influence  of 
unevangelized  America  on  the  heathen  nations: 

"The  impact  of  our  American  life  upon  the  nations  of 
the  world  is  of  tremendous  significance.  We  preach  a 
gospel  not  only  by  the  missionaries  we  send  into  all  the 
world,  but  by  the  forces  of  our  civilization,  by  trade  and 
commerce,  by  our  attitude  and  temper,  by  the  impact  of 
our  whole  modern  life. 

"Some  years  ago  the  Japanese  Government,  under  the 
splendid  influence  of  the  missionaries  of  that  country, 
was  preparing  to  adopt  Christianity  as  the  national  re- 
ligion of  the  Empire.  Before  doing  so,  however,  it  sent  a 
commission  of  Japanese  to  this  country  to  study  Chris- 
tianity at  first  hand.  They  visited  the  various  portions 
of  our  country.  They  studied  life  in  our  cities,  in  our  places 
of  business,  in  our  great  industries,  as  also  in  our  schools, 
churches,  and  homes.  They  were  deeply  impressed,  and 
reported  to  their  Government  that  Christianity  was  ideal 
in  theory,  but  that  it  did  not  work  in  practice.  There- 
upon the  Japanese  Government  declared  that  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  to  adopt  Christianity  as  its  national  re- 
ligion. The  attitude  of  the  people  in  America  thus  tem- 
porarily counteracted  the  influence  of  the  missionaries 
whom  the  American  churches  are  supporting  in  that 
Oriental  country. 

"America,  therefore,  holds  the  key  to  the  world's  Chris- 
tianization.  America  is  the  agent  under  God  to  bring 
the  gospel  to  all  the  world.     America  is  the  golden  goblet 


America,  The  Melting  Pot  185 

for  the  bringing  of  the  water  of  life  to  the  famishing  na- 
tions of  the  world.  America  is  the  golden  candlestick  that 
is  to  carry  the  Light  of  Life  to  the  people  that  sit  in  dark- 
ness." 

Why  not  take  advantage  of  our  opportunity,  and  recog- 
nize our  responsibility  for  the  messengers  going  out  from 
America?  Why  not  change  the  character  of  the  messenger, 
and  inspire  their  messages?  The  Christian  church  to- 
day has  an  opportunity  to  send  to  the  people  of  these  far- 
away lands  messages  of  hope  and  faith  and  love.  No  such 
chance  ever  came  to  a  church  before.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  manner  in  which  American  Christianity  deals 
with  the  religious  problem  of  immigration  will  determine 
what  part  America  is  to  have  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
nations  abroad. 

"It  would  not  be  possible  in  any  other  way  for  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  send  to  the  world  millions  of  mis- 
sionaries, especially  qualified  to  reach  the  needy  masses. 
These  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  languages  and 
temperament  of  the  people  of  the  different  countries. 
They  are  versed  in  the  most  tactful  way  of  approaching 
them,  and  have  an  open  door  into  hearts  and  homes.  The 
Church  could  not  secure  such  valuable  workers  even  were 
she  able  to  bear  the  expense.  But  here  are  thousands  and 
thousands  of  men  and  women  thus  fitted,  and  at  their  own 
expense,  reaching  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 
Had  they  all  the  one  essential — the  love  of  Christ  in  their 
heart — what  a  mighty  world  uplift!  We  can  send  no 
missionaries  equal  in  power  and  influence  to  the  blood  re- 
lation, with  the  love  of  God  in  his  heart,  and  Christian 
principles  in  his  head.  By  neglecting  these  people  a  mar- 
velous opportunity  has  been  lost.  Let  us  hasten  to  reach 
these  millions  with  the  gospel  ere  they  return,  and  thev  in 
turn  will  enlighten  the  world.  Here  is  the  God-given  key 
to  'the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation.'  " 
— (Modern   Migration.) 


186  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Transmitting  Christ's  Compassion. 

"But  when  he  saw  the  multitudes,  he  was  moved  with 
compassion  on  them,  because  they  fainted,  and  were 
scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd."  Like  a 
flashhght  this  language  of  inspiration  reveals  the  attitude 
of  Christ  toward  human  need.  The  seething,  surging, 
wretched,  scattered  multitudes  "as  sheep  having  no  shep- 
herd" moved  his  compassion.  It  was  the  same  compas- 
sion which  influenced  him  in  eternity  past  to  disrobe  him- 
self of  his  glory,  step  down  from  his  throne,  and  enter  the 
arena  as  the  Champion  of  wrong,  and  for  the  relief  of  need, 
"bearing  our  sorrows  and  carrying  our  griefs."  Now, 
seated  on  the  throne  of  the  universe,  he  looks  down  with 
the  same  compassion  on  still  greater  multitudes. 

Yet  he  has  no  hands  to  touch  fevered  brows,  except 
your  hands.  He  has  no  feet  "to  bring  glad  tidings  of 
good  things"  except  your  feet.  He  has  no  voice  except 
yours  to  express  his  love  and  utter  the  sweet  invitation, 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden." 
Are  we  willing  to  be  instruments,  hands,  feet,  and  voice, 
channels  of  blessing,  that  his  compassion  through  us  may 
touch  these  immigrants,  strangers  in  a  strange  land, 
"scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd,"  in  order 
that  for  us  and  for  Christ,  they  may  touch  the  life  of  the 
whole  wide  world? 


IX. 
THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL  LIFE. 

At  the  request  of  the  Permanent  Committee  of  Sys- 
tematic Beneficence,  the  Executive  Secretary  of  Home 
Missions  prepared  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject  of  the  Coun- 
try Church,  which  was  pubHshed  by  order  of  the  General 
Assembly,  with  its  quasi  endorsement,  for  distribution  and 
the  use  of  its  ministry.  In  the  light  of  suggestion,  friendly 
criticism,  and  further  research,  this  pamphlet  is  hereby 
revised,  greatly  enlarged,  and  incorporated  as  a  chapter 
in  this  treatise  on  Home  Missions,  in  the  hope  that  it  may 
stimulate  further  interest  in  the  subject  as  a  contribution 
to  the  quickening  of  country  church  life. 

Changed  conditions,  economic,  social,  educational,  moral, 
and  religious,  are  from  every  angle  tremendously  affecting 
modern  life.  A  new  era,  dominated  by  new  thought,  new 
problems,  new  environs,  and  new  ideals  has  created  a  new 
world  of  thought  and  life.  It  is  as  if  the  old  dispensation 
had  passed  away  and  a  new  dispensation  had  been  ushered 
in.  Strictly  speaking,  the  law  of  evolution  knows  no  "ar- 
rested development,"  because  it  cannot  halt.  Its  opera- 
tions must  result  in  the  "survival  of  the  fittest,"  or  follow 
the  line  of  least  resistance  along  the  down  grade  of  de- 
generation. This  is  true  alike  of  an  individual  and  of  a 
community. 

The  Question  Stated. 

Whether  for  better  or  for  worse,  leadership  has  passed 
from  the  country.  Once  it  contained  the  mass  of  the 
people.  Now,  like  a  magnet,  the  city  is  attracting  not 
simply  the  floating  population,  but  the  mechanical  genius, 
the  business  skill  and  the  intellectual  talent  of  the  coun- 
try.    Only  one  class  is  left  to  the  country;  and  the  farmer 


188  The  Task  That  Challenges 

himself  is  being  either  crowded  out,  or  being  transformed 
into  the  tenant.  Once  the  grammar  school  educated 
leaders  whose  statesmanship  molded  the  thought  and 
guided  the  destiny  of  the  Nation.  Now  the  public  school 
system  furnishes  for  the  country  only  the  primary  and 
secondary  grades.  Once  the  country  church,  pastored  by 
the  highest  type  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  ministry, 
influenced  the  national  life,  setting  the  standard  of  morals 
and  leading  great  revivals,  which  resulted  in  religious  up- 
heavals reaching  to  the  remotest  nooks  and  corners  of  the 
country.  Now  the  country  church  is  disintegrating,  and 
is  ceasing  to  be  a  controlling  factor  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  Nation.  Its  main  effort  is  to  perpetuate  its  existence. 
The  sceptre  of  leadership,  moral,  intellectual  and  spiritual, 
is  passing  to  the  city.  This  admission  is  heard  on  every 
missionary  rostrum,  emphasized  in  Rural  Surveys,  and  is 
re-echoed  in  the  Home  Mission  literature  of  the  day. 
Its  full  significance  has  not  yet  permeated  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  Church.  Is  it  the  survival  of  the  fittest?  The 
object  of  this  inquiry  is  to  arouse  Presbyteries  and  Chris- 
tian leadership  to  the  serious  consequences  threatened. 

The  Importance  of  the  Country. 

Its  influence  on  life  and  character  can  be  only  partially 
apprehended,  even  after  an  array  of  facts  and  figures 
familiar  to  every  reader  of  average  information.  Statistics 
indicate  that  perhaps  seven-eighths  of  the  ministers  and 
six-sevenths  of  the  college  professors  were  reared  in  the 
country.  At  least  three-fourths  of  the  leadership  of  our 
city  churches,  and  the  majority  of  their  members  were 
country  bred,  and  the  same  ratio  exists  as  to  lawyers, 
physicians,  bankers,  and  other  professional  and  influential 
men.  It  is  claimed  that  twenty-six  of  our  twenty-eight 
Presidents  of  the  United  States  were  country  boys.  Rural 
scenery  and  honest  toil  are  calculated  to  make  strong  men 
physically,    gigantic    men    intellectually,    and    clean    men 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         189 

moralK-  and  spiritually.  It  is  the  ps>chological  explana- 
tion of  the  recognized  fact  that  the  country  church  was 
formerly  the  mother  of  teachers,  statesmen  and  theo- 
logians. 

The  abnormal  growth  of  our  cities  is  at  the  expense  of 
the    country,    and    this    degeneration    of    the    rural    com- 
munity will  eventually  react  on  the  religious  life  of  the 
city  and  the  moral  stamina  of  the  nation.     City  churches 
are  not  only  being  recruited  from  the  country  in  numbers, 
but  in  moral  fibre.     "What  are  you  doing  away  out  in 
the  backwoods?"  said  a  city  pastor  to  a  country  minister. 
"I  am  engaged,"  replied  he,  "in  the  work  of  helping  you 
to  save  your  city."     If  the  Church  but  appreciated  the 
significance  of  this  statement,  it  would  recognize  that  the 
gifts  of  the  rich  city  church  to  evangelize  the  country  are 
in   reality   an   indirect  investment   for   its   own  salvation. 
In  North  Carolina  a  city  church  paid  a  percentage  of  the 
salary  of  a  mission  church.     This  rural  pastorate  resulted 
in   the   conversion   of   a   prominent   man   who   afterwards 
moved,  with  his  church  membership,  to  the  city,  and  con- 
tributed annually  to  the  city  church  more  than  the  entire 
amount   it   had   expended   on   the   salary   of   the   country 
pastor. 

Emerson  is  responsible  for  the  statement  that  "if  the 

cities  were   not   re-enforced   from   the   fields,   they  would 

have   rotted,    exploded,    and   disappeared   long   ago."     If, 

however,  country  life  degenerates,  and  the  rural  church 

disintegrates,  where  will  come  the  moral  force  to  counteract 

the    degenerating    influence    of    our    increasingly    corrupt 

cities?     "If  the  salt  have  lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall  it 

be  salted?"     No  wonder  John  R.  Mott  sounded  the  timely 

alarm:  "The  cities  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  furnish  the 

Christian  leaders  of  the  future.     The  work  of  the  church  in 

the  country  districts  must  be  carried  on  with  efficiency 

and  power  in  order  to  assure  the  raising  up  of  sufficient 

Christian    forces    to    cultivate    the    city    fields."     W.    F. 


190  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Richardson,  of  Kansas  City,  asserts  that  90  per  cent,  of 
the  ministers  and  missionaries  of  the  Church  come  from 
rural  and  village  communities. 

Rural  Surveys. 

"It  was  a  condition  and  not  a  theory"  which  suddenh- 
confronted  a  startled  church,  and  aroused  thoughtful  men 
to  the  necessity  of  swift  and  radical  action.  Surveys  were 
instituted  to  ascertain  the  facts.  Theodore  Roosevelt's 
"Country  Life  Commission"  sounded  the  keynote  of  the 
first  great  reform  needed:  "Any  consideration  of  the  prob- 
lem of  rural  life  that  leaves  out  of  account  the  function  and 
possibilities  of  the  church  and  of  related  institutions  would 
be  grossly  inadequate,  *  *  *  because  from  the  purely 
sociological  point  of  view,  the  church  is  fundamentally  a 
necessary  institution  in  country  life.  In  a  peculiar  way 
the  church  is  intimately  related  to  agricultural  industry. 
This  gives  the  rural  church  a  position  of  peculiar  difficulty 
and  one  of  unequalled  opportunity.  *  *  *  Y\]q  time 
has  arrived  when  the  church  must  take  a  larger  leadership, 
both  as  an  institution,  and  through  its  pastor,  in  the 
social  reorganization  of  rural  life." 

The  Federal  Council  of  Churches  and  the  Home  Mission 
Council  each  appointed  a  Commission  on  Rural  Life.  The 
Home  Mission  Board  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S. 
A.,  created  a  County  Life  Department,  which  conducted 
numerous  surveys,  upon  which  were  based  valuable  re- 
ports, bristling  with  live  information.  The  following 
statistics  are  furnished  by  the  survey  of  three  counties  in 
Missouri:  "In  these  three  Missouri  counties  are  180  Protest- 
ant church  buildings,  159  of  which  are  used  occasionally, 
while  21  have  been  totally  abandoned.  The  in\'estiga- 
tion  shows  that  23  per  cent,  of  the  population  is  in  the 
Protestant  membership,  about  5  per  cent,  in  the  Catholic, 
while  at  least  71  per  cent,  belong  to  no  church  whatever." 

Quotations  are   given   from   other  surveys,   to   indicate 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         191 

something  of  conditions:  "In  1890  five  counties  of  New 
York  state  were  exhaustively  studied.  Many  Protestant 
churches  were  seen,  falHng  into  decay,  or  abandoned  long 
since  to  bats  and  brick-bats.  In  one  village  the  investi- 
gators found  two  disused  Protestant  churches,  one  active 
Catholic  church,  and  fourteen  saloons,  all  within  the  dis- 
tance of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  In  one  town  they  found  a 
Presbyterian  church  used  as  a  barn,  a  Baptist  church  aban- 
doned, and  two  Methodist  churches  almost  extinct,  and 
a  Baptist  Seminary  used  as  a  Catholic  church;  while  on 
the  Erie  Canal  for  miles  were  found  scattered  hamlets 
containing  altogether  a  considerable  population,  with  no 
religious  services  of  any  kind  from  one  year's  end  to  an- 
other." 

Rev.  Matthew  B.  McNutt  reported  800  abandoned 
churches  in  Ohio  and  1,500  in  Illinois.  Prof.  E.  C.  Bran- 
son is  responsible  for  the  statement  that  one  of  the  great 
religious  denominations  of  the  South,  consisting  of  3,500 
churches,  has  1,032  churches  without  pastors,  mainly 
country  churches.  *  *  *  Of  a  group  of  41  churches 
in  middle  Georgia,  20  are  without  Sunday  schools,  19  of 
them  give  nothing  to  Missions,  7  are  without  pastors,  and 
20  of  these  churches  report  no  members  by  profession  of 
faith. 

Eminent  Authorities. 

At  the  Church  and  Country  Life  Convention  held  in 
Columbus,  Ohio,  December,  1915,  under  the  authority  and 
auspices  of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches,  attended  by 
800  delegates  and  addressed  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  the  following  facts  and  statistics 
were  furnished  in  reports  of  Committees  and  addresses 
by  distinguished  speakers.  Rev.  Charles  O.  Gill,  secretary 
and  organizer,  announced: 

"The  main  work  during  the  year  in  Ohio  has  been  a  state- 
wide survey  supplementing  the  work  of   1912  and   1913, 


192  The  Task  That  Challenges 

by  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Sur- 
vey. The  attempt  has  been  made  to  ascertain  the  loca- 
tion and  denomination  of  every  rural  church,  its  present 
membership,  whether  it  is  gaining  or  losing  in  member- 
ship, and  whether  it  ordinarily  has  a  resident  pastor,  and 
what  part  of  a  minister's  service  it  receives.  *  *  *  So 
far  as  the  data  have  been  tabulated,  they  indicate  that 
nearly  one-fourth  of  the  townships  of  the  state,  comprising 
a  territory  of  more  than  9,000  square  miles,  are  without 
resident  ministers  and  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
churches  in  this  area  are  declining  in  membership;  that  on 
an  average  there  are  nearly  4  churches  in  each  of  these 
townships;  that  there  is  a  church  to  every  286  persons, 
while  there  is  one  minister  to  about  800  persons." 

Governor  Frank  B.  Willis  in  his  address  of  welcome 
stated : 

"Carefully  compiled  figures  seem  to  show  beyond  ques- 
tion that  the  rural  churches  in  Ohio  have  come  upon  evil 
times — that  they  have  ceased  to  grow,  that  eighty-three 
per  cent,  have  a  membership  of  less  than  100,  that  one  out 
of  every  9  country  churches  has  been  abandoned  in  re- 
cent years,  that  only  one-third  are  increasing  in  member- 
ship, and  that  two-thirds  have  either  ceased  to  grow  or  are 
dying.  It  seems  especially  significant  to  me  that  the 
figures  show  that  less  than  40  per  cent,  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation are  church  members." 

W.  F.  Richardson  furnished  the  following  facts: 

"A  study  of  91  rural  churches  in  Indiana  showed  that 
25  of  them  had  not  one  male  communicant  under  21. 
In  Illinois  only  13  per  cent,  of  the  young  people  were  found 
attending  the  Sunday  school.  In  Maryland,  57  per  cent, 
of  the  rural  churches  have  no  sort  of  organization  for  the 
young  people  of  their  communities.  *  *  *  jj^  ^j^g 
heart  of  Missouri,  in  one  of  its  richest  counties,  there  are 
67  country  churches,  or  one  for  every  46  farm  families. 
There  is  but  one  resident  pastor  among  the  67  churches. 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         193 

Many  of  them  are  ministered  to  by  preachers  who  travel 
weary  miles  to  bring  them  the  monthly  sermons  upon 
which  they  try  to  live  their  feeble  lives." 

In  his  report  to  the  Convention,  Edwin  L.  Earp,  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  the  Country  Church  as  a  Commu- 
nity Center,  inquires:  "Why  are  we  discussing  so  often  in 
these  days  the  problems  of  the  country  church  ?  Because  in 
many  sections  of  our  country  it  presents  to  us  one  of  the 
most  difficult  mission  fields  of  the  world  to  cultivate,  be- 
cause, like  the  slums  of  the  great  cities,  it  is  a  lost  home 
field.  As  one  goes  back  to  his  home  county  in  the  rural 
sections  of  the  Eastern,  Southern,  and  some  of  the  middle 
Western  States,  what  does  he  discover?  The  splendid  old 
circuit  system  broken  up,  and  the  fires  of  religious  fervor 
gone  out  upon  many  abandoned  church  and  family  altars, 
and  the  message  of  the  minister  in  the  neglected  pulpit 
of  the  dilapidated  church  building,  about  as  effective  in 
creating  a  community  spirit  as  the  noise  of  a  lone  wood- 
pecker on  a  dead  tree  in  a  swamp." 

What  Is  a   Country  Church'^ 

In  the  last  census  the  United  States  Supervisor  defined 
as  such  any  church  in  the  open  country,  or  in  towns  not 
exceeding  2,500  in  population.  In  the  whole  United  States 
this  standard  consigned  53  per  cent,  of  the  people  to  the 
country,  while  in  the  South  the  ratio  reached  75  per  cent. 
Beyond  all  question,  this  arbitrary  classification  is  so 
manifestly  wrong  as  to  render  the  statistics  either  mis- 
leading, or  of  small  value.  The  average  church  in  towns 
of  2,500  contains  no  appreciable  percentage  of  farmers, 
and  but  few  possessing  in  the  remotest  degree  the  agri- 
cultural instinct.  Besides  this  fatal  objection,  such  towns 
are  rare  exceptions,  if  they  do  not  furnish  graded  schools, 
social  advantages,  and  many  of  the  attractions  of  the 
city. 

The  Preslnterian  Church,  U.  S.  A.,  accepted  the  defini- 


194  The  Task  That  Challenges 

tion  of  the  Census  Supervisor,  however,  and  undertook  to 
ascertain  the  percentage  of  its  country  churches  and  their 
conditions.  This  condensed  statement  will  give  a  fair 
idea  of  the  result  of  their  investigation:  "Inquiry  was  made 
of  each  Presbytery.  Reports  were  received  from  269 
Presbyteries.  These  reports  show  that  70.07  per  cent,  of 
all  the  churches  in  those  269  Presbyteries  were  country 
churches.  Of  the  6,751  country  churches,  4,185,  or  61.9 
per  cent.,  were  in  villages,  and  2,261,  or  33.6  per  cent.,  are 
in  the  o])en  country.  The  remaining  305,  which  constitute 
4.5  per  cent.,  have  been  abandoned. 

Of  the  4,863  churches  which  had  the  services  of  a  minister, 
3,280  were  in  villages  and  1,583  were  in  the  open  country. 
That  is,  78.4  per  cent,  of  the  village  churches  have  a  min- 
ister, and  21.6  per  cent,  have  none. 

Of  the  open  country  churches,  70  per  cent.  ha\'e  a  min- 
ister, 30  per  cent,  are  vacant.  Seventy-four  and  six- 
tenths  per  cent,  of  village  churches  that  had  a  minister 
were  so  fortunate  as  to  have  him  residing  within  the  parish, 
whereas  only  25.8  per  cent,  of  the  open  country  churches 
had  a  resident  minister.  Twenty-three  and  four-tenths 
])er  cent,  have  one-half  of  his  time.  Ten  and  four-tenths 
per  cent,  have  one-third  of  his  time,  and  four  and  five- 
tenths  per  cent,  manage  to  exist  with  one-fourth  or  less 
of  the  minister's  attention." 

Presbyterian   Chiirch,    U.  S. 

In  seeking  to  ascertain  the  facts  relative  to  the  country 
churches  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.,  we  have  classi- 
fied as  such  only  those  churches  strictly  in  the  open  coun- 
try, and  not  located  on  any  railroad.  This  ruling  is  ad- 
mittedly defective,  and  open  to  objections  in  some  respects, 
but  comprises  the  distinctively  country  church. 

By  correspondence  and  questionnaire,  we  succeeded  in 
getting  replies  from  practically  all  the  Presbyteries,  con- 
taining in  the  aggregate  3,430  churches,  and  of  this  num- 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         195 

her  1,355  are  located  stricth'  in  the  country,  being  393^ 
per  cent,  of  the  whole. 

In  estimating  the  spiritual  condition  and  general  status 
of  these  country  churches,  due  allowance  must  be  made  for 
the  fact  that  these  reports  reflect  the  views  of  85  individuals, 
one  Home  Mission  Chairman  for  each  Presbytery.  If  the 
inquiry  had  been  made  of  the  Stated  Clerks,  the  estimates 
would  doubtless  have  varied  somewhat.  Men  often  differ 
as  to  whether  a  church  is  growing  or  dying,  and  as  to  the 
definition  of  an  "abandoned"  church,  some  applying  the 
term  to  a  deserted  building  and  others  to  a  dead  organiza- 
tion. Upon  the  whole  it  is  highly  probable  that  this  sum- 
mary of  results  based  upon  these  reports  furnishes  a  fair 
estimate  of  general  conditions: 

Of  these  1,355  churches  in  the  open  country-,  1,084  had 
pastors  or  temporary  supplies,  being  80  per  cent.,  and  271 
were  vacant,  being  20  per  cent.  This  is  rather  a  good 
showing,  and  doubtless  above  the  average  of  most  large 
denominations.  Reports  indicate  that  867  were  growing, 
being  64  per  cent.;  170  were  actually  dying,  being  Xiy^  per 
cent.;  and  49  were  abandoned,  being  3%  per  cent.,  which 
would  leave  269,  or  practically  20  per  cent.,  as  merely 
holding  their  own.  If  all  of  the  867  were  making  decided 
])rogress,  64  per  cent,  would  be  quite  a  remarkable  record 
in  comparison  with  many  others;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
many  which  seem  to  be  growing  at  present  have  as  large  a 
membership  as  thirty  years  ago.  Of  the  total,  464,  or 
3434  per  cent.,  are  served  by  absentee  pastors,  and  271,  or 
20  per  cent.,  are  vacant.  These  two  conditions  are  un- 
favorable to  growth,  but  cannot  be  taken  into  the  account 
without  "overlapping,"  and  so  each  must  discount  for 
himself  their  effect  upon  the  general  status.  Many  ex- 
amples can  be  counted  on  both  sides  of  the  question.  A 
.church  which  to-day  numbers  100  members,  having  gained 
20  in  five  years,  would  be  credited  with  growth;  and  yet 
if  it  contained  200  thirty  years  ago,  it  would  serve  to  illus- 


196  The  Task  Thai  Challenges 

trate  the  decline  of  the  country  church,  according  to  the 
general  consensus  of  opinion. 

Mecklenburg  Presbytery. 

No  man  ever  rendered  more  efficient  service  in  a  country 
pastorate  than  Rev.  W.  E.  Mcllwain,  D.  D.,  and  no  man 
can  speak  from  more  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  subject 
than  he.  The  following  is  his  account  of  the  country 
churches  of  Mecklenburg  Presbytery  of  North  Carolina, 
in  an  address  at  the  Steele  Creek  church : 

"The  country  church  in  this  part  of  our  state  was  first 
in  order  of  time.  Where  we  stand  to-day  was  a  wilderness 
unbroken,  except  here  and  there  a  log  cabin  sheltering  an 
humble  family  recently  arrived  from  the  north  of  Ireland. 

"Not  only  were  country  churches  first  in  the  order  of 
time,  but  for  many  years  after  town  churches  were  or- 
ganized they  were  easily  first  in  the  order  of  importance. 
In  point  of  members,  wealth,  influence,  political,  social 
and  ecclesiastical,  the\'  surpassed  all  the  town  churches  of 
that  day. 

"The  12  oldest  country  churches  in  Mecklenburg  county 
have  not  only  lived  and  taken  care  of  themselves  and  helped 
to  organize  7  new  country  churches  and  5  town  churches, 
but  have  been  mighty  factors  in  organizing  and  building 
up  our  twelve  Presbyterian  churches  in  the  city  of  Char- 
lotte. When  the  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg  was  organized 
in  1869,  we  had  but  one  church  in  Charlotte,  with  260 
members.  To-day  we  have  12  churches  with  a  combined 
membership  of  almost  4,000  members.  We  have  more 
Presbyterians  to-day  in  Charlotte  than  we  had  in  the  whole 
Presbytery  in  1869,  which  then  embraced  nineteen  counties 
of  the  state. 

"These  growing  countr}-  churches  ha\e  not  onh-  made 
Charlotte  a  great  Presbyterian  city,  but  they  have  made 
Mecklenburg  county  the  greatest  Presbyterian  county 
south  of  Pennsylvania. 


The  Couuiry  Church  (Did  Rural  Life  197 

"To-day  there  are  in  the  county  36  white  Presbyterian 
churches,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  7,000.  hdd  to 
these  the  11  churches  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of 
the  South,  and  we  have  47  white  Presbyterian  churches 
wnth  a  membership  of  over  9,000.  Here,  then,  in  a  single 
county  in  North  Carolina  is  a  Presbyterian  membership 
not  onlv  larger  than  any  other  count\'  in  the  Southern 
States,  but  more  Southern  Presbyterians  than  there  are 
in  the  entire  Synods  of  Arkansas,  Florida  or  Louisiana." 

Per  Contra. 

There  is,  however,  only  one  Mecklenburg  County.  That 
record  cannot  be  duplicated.  Abbeville  and  York  Counties 
in  South  Carolina,  and  certain  others  in  North  Carolina 
and  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  as  well  as  in  a  few  other  states, 
can  still  give  good  account  of  themselves;  but  they  do  not 
disprove  the  contention,  that  throughout  the  country  there 
has  been  a  lamentable  decline  in  the  strength  and  influence 
of  the  rural  church.  The  author  grew  up  in  a  section  of 
South  Carolina  with  great  country  churches,  and  has  often 
seen,  on  ordinary  Sabbath  days,  congregations  varying 
from  500  to  700  people.  To-day  those  splendid  build- 
ings stand  as  relics  of  the  past,  and  the  voice  of  the  preacher 
is  as  one  crying  in  the  wilderness. 

Decline  of  the  Country  Church — Reasons. 

One  need  not  travel  far  afield  to  discover  the  causes  re- 
sulting in  the  disintegration  of  the  country  church: 

1.  Shifting  populations  are  perhaps  the  most  potent 
factor  in  accounting  for  the  decline.  Cities  do  not  grow 
phenomenally  by  means  of  their  own  natural  increase. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  less  than  4 
per  cent,  of  the  population  was  urban;  by  the  middle  of 
the  century,  it  was  about  12  per  cent.;  but  at  present  over 
46  per  cent,  live  in  the  cit)-.     In  fifteen  states  the  majority 


198  The  Task  That  Challenges 

of  the  population  is  found  in  cities.     In  eight  of  these  the 
urban  population  is  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  whole. 

The  growth  of  the  city  is  at  the  expense  of  the  country, 
for  while  the  rural  population,  during  the  first  decade  of  the 
twentieth  century  increased  only  11  per  cent.,  the  urban 
population  increased  35  per  cent.  During  this  same  period 
there  was  an  actual  decrease  in  the  population  of  795 
counties  in  the  United  States.  Nine  great  states  decreased 
in  rural  population.  The  country  is  drained  of  its  best 
blood  and  talent,  and  the  social,  educational  and  com- 
mercial advantages  of  the  city  lure  to  these  more  attractive 
fields.  New  and  growing  sections  of  the  West  compete 
with  the  city  for  the  migratory  element  of  the  older  settle- 
ments, with  their  exhausted  lands.  In  many  of  the  rural 
districts  of  the  South,  Negro  ownership  of  the  land  is  cir- 
cumscribing and  drawing  the  lines  closer  around  the 
struggling  church.  The  magnitude  of  this  adverse  in- 
fluence is  apparent  considering  the  fact  that  40  per  cent,  of 
the  farmers  of  the  South  are  Negroes. 

Objections  Anticipated. 

The  objection  is  sometimes  urged  that  if  population  has 
gone  to  the  cities,  why  manifest  concern  for  abandoned 
houses  of  worship  and  disintegrating  churches?  The 
answer  ought  to  occur  to  the  objector  himself,  that  urban 
and  rural  populations  are  relative  terms.  The  neighbor- 
ing city  may  show  five-fold  relative  growth,  and  yet  the 
country  may  contain  almost  as  many  people  as  it  ever  had. 
The  leadership,  the  cultured  and  the  wealthy,  may  have 
removed  to  the  city,  leaving  the  poorer  and  the  less  pro- 
gressive. The  population  of  the  country  may  remain 
almost  stationary,  and  yet  destitution  may  exist  and  the 
country  church  disintegrate,  because  leadership  and  fin- 
ancial support  are  gone.  In  many  cases  a  railroad  cuts 
through  a  large  country  congregation,  and  a  town  is  located 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  church.     After  agitating   and 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         199 

dividing  the  congregation  on  the  question,  the  organiza- 
tion is  generally  moved  to  the  town,  where  it  struggles  for 
existence,  as  the  country  people  gradually  cease  attendance 
upon  services  in  town,  while  the  old  church  is  practically 
deserted  and   its  glor>-  departed. 

2.  The  tenant  system  of  farming  is  paralyzing  the  ener- 
gies of  the  religious  forces.  Men  who  do  not  own  homes, 
who  in  all  probability  will  be  missing  by  another  year,  have 
no  great  incentive,  either  to  build  or  maintain  neighbor- 
hood churches.  No  wonder  it  has  been  said  that  greater 
than  war,  pestilence  and  famine,  is  the  curse  of  landlordism. 
Statistics  show  that  tenants  are  most  irregular  and  uncer- 
tain in  their  church  attendance.  Forty-four  per  cent,  of 
tenants  never  go  near  any  church.  At  least  78  per  cent, 
of  hired  men  never  attend  religious  worship  of  any  kind. 
Of  farmers  owning  only  twenty  acres  of  land,  65  per  cent, 
never  attend  religious  worship.  The  percentage  of  atten- 
dance increases  as  the  farm  grows,  until  the  farmer  owns 
300  acres,  and  then  declines  again  with  increased  acreage. 

Harry  F.  Ward  of  Boston,  addressing  the  Church  and 
Country  Life  Convention,  gave  the  following  personal 
experience : 

"Passing  through  Iowa  the  other  day,  I  picked  up  a 
paper  and  found  a  statement  by  an  agricultural  authority 
estimating  that  one-half  the  population  of  Iowa  was  com- 
posed of  either  tenant  farmers  or  hired  men.  The  children 
of  the  tenant  farmers  have  not  an  equal  chance  for  develop- 
ment with  those  of  the  landlords.  Even  where  their  educa- 
tional privileges  are  the  same,  they  are  not  as  well  able  to 
take  advantage  of  them.  I  was  recently  in  a  rural  commun- 
ity where  the  retired  farmers  w^ere  objecting  strenuously 
to  paying  the  tax  required  to  make  the  rural  school  efficient, 
a  school  which  was  to  serve,  not  their  children,  but  the 
children  of  their  tenants  and  hired  men." 

Dr.  Henry  Wallace  of  Des  Moines,  la.,  stated: 

"Capitalists  began  to  invest  in  lands  as  soon  as  the  net 


200  The  Task  That  Challenges 

income  would  equal  the  interest  on  savings,  and  speculators 
began  to  bu^'  land  far  in  advance  of  its  productive  value, 
on  the  assumption  that  this  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  in- 
crease in  price  would  continue.  One  result  of  this  was  an 
enormous  increase  in  tenancy-,  until  about  thirty-seven  and 
one-half  per  cent,  of  the  tillable  lands  in  the  United  States 
was  farmed  b>'  tenants.  In  the  corn  belt  from  forty  to 
fifty  per  cent,  of  the  land  is  farmed  by  tenants,  and  in 
the  cotton  belt  from  fift>'  to  seventy  per  cent." 

Steele  Creek  Church. 

The  largest  countr>'  church  in  our  communion  is  Steele 
Creek  in  Mecklenburg  county,  near  Charlotte,  N.  C, 
whose  parish  is  perhaps  ten  miles  square,  having  a  resident 
membership  of  683,  compared  with  470  thirty  years  ago. 
After  100  years  of  splendid  service  to  the  Master  in  its  own 
community,  as  well  as  contributing  to  the  growth  of  Char- 
lotte, it  is  as  vigorous  as  in  its  palmiest  days.  In  all 
probability  it  will  be  even  stronger  when  it  rounds  out 
another  hundred  years,  especialh'  if  the  wise  polic>'  of  its 
present  leadership  prevails.  It  is  said  that  its  officers  have 
formed  a  syndicate  for  the  purpose  of  buying  up  any  farm 
lands  for  sale  within  its  bounds.  This  enables  them  to 
sell  to  any  desirable  young  couple  setting  up  housekeeping, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  out  undesirable  elements. 
This  church  has  practicalh-  solved  for  itself  the  problem 
of  a  rural  communit>'. 

The  prospect  of  the  country  church  in  general,  however, 
is  not.  very  reassuring  when  we  are  informed  that  in  Geor- 
gia, at  the  beginning  of  the  20th  century  three  out  of  every 
five  farms  were  cultivated  by  tenants,  while  in  1910  the 
proportion  had  increased  to  two  in  every  three.  In  one 
county  in  Georgia  the  ratio  is  as  high  as  nine  in  ten.  What 
is  the  outlook  for  farming  interests  or  church  development 
when  nine  out  of  ten  farmers  are  houseless  and  landless? 
In  1900  only  half  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  land 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         201 

owners,  and  the  ratio  of  the  landless  increases  with  each 
decade.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Isaiah  condemned  "the 
joining  of  house  to  house  and  the  laying  of  field  to  field" 
till  these  landlords  had  preempted  the  entire  country,  a 
condition  which  the  Jewish  law  attempted  to  prevent? 

3.  The  decline  of  the  country  school  drives  men  to  edu- 
cational centers  to  seek  advantages  for  their  children;  and 
as  the  school  declines,  the  country  church  dwindles  in 
proportion.  Statistics  show  that,  while  rural  sections 
spend  only  $12.50  on  each  child,  the  city  expends  S30.78 
annually  per  pupil. 

Social  and  commercial  advantages  draw  to  the  cit>',  and 
sap  the  life  of  the  rural  community  upon  which  the  country 
church  depends  for  support  and  growth.  Economic  con- 
ditions, such  as  good  roads,  must  also  be  recognized  as  in- 
fluences which  cannot  be  ignored. 

At  one  time  its  ministry  was  the  glory  and  strength  of 
the  rural  church.  Fift\-  years  ago  the  country  minister 
was  the  acknowledged  leader,  molding  the  thought  of  men 
as  far  as  his  influence  reached.  His  education,  culture, 
and  spiritual  atta'nments  compelled  recognition;  and  his 
sermons  in  their  literary  style  inspired  the  more  ambitious 
youth  to  seek  the  learned  professions,  many  of  whom  en- 
tered the  gospel  ministry.  Now  the  country  gentleman 
and  the  country  church  ar»  alike  changed.  The  old  type 
is  gone,  and  seemingly  never  to  return. 

4.  The  spiritual  interests  of  the  rural  districts  are  sub- 
jected to  "absent  treatment."  The  absentee  pastor  honors 
the  church  with  his  presence  on  Saturday  evening,  for  once 
a  month  preaching,  and  takes  his  flight  by  the  earliest  train 
on  Monda>'.  The  people  know  him  only  in  the  pulpit  and 
in  a  professional  wa\'.  Only  in  the  remotest  degree  does 
he  touch  the  social  or  spiritual  life  of  the  community.  In 
far  too  many  instances  he  is  an  old  man,  crowded  out  ot 
growing  charges,  serving  out  his  time  as  an  hireling;  or 
else  a  young  man,  serving  his  apprenticeship,  with  one  eye 


202  The  Task  That  Challenges 

on  his  country  charge  and  the  other  on  a  city  pulpit, 
using  his  present  field  chiefly  as  a  stepping  stone  to  cit>' 
preferment.  The  tenant  system  of  farming  is  no  greater 
curse  to  the  rural  communities  than  the  tenant  ministry 
is  to  the  country  church,  as  may  be  judged  by  the  following 
quotation  from  the  Rural  Survey  in  Missouri:  "Of  the 
country  churches,  92  per  cent,  have  preaching  one-fourth 
the  time,  and  only  8  per  cent,  have  services  as  often  as 
half  the  time.  This  means  that  92  per  cent,  of  the  country 
churches  have  'three  hours  a  month  ministers.'  In  these 
three  Missouri  counties  there  are  but  two  ministers  who 
reside  in  the  county,  and  but  three  churches  of  the  83  can 
claim  a  resident  pastor.  One  of  these  is  a  superannuated 
preacher  who  is  almost  illiterate.  Taking  all  these  churches 
in  the  three  counties,  covering  a  period  of  ten  years,  only 
23  per  cent,  are  growing,  8  per  cent,  stationary,  24  per  cent, 
are  losing,  19  per  cent,  dying,  11  per  cent,  dead,  and  12  per 
cent,  have  been  organized  within  the  past  ten  }-ears." 

Prof.  G.  Walter  Fiske  of  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  gives  the 
benefit  of  his  research : 

"In  many  parts  of  the  country  the  majority  of  country 
pastors  are  not  really  pastors,  but  preachers  onl}-,  not 
living  on  the  land  with  their  people,  but  in  near-by  villages 
or  even  far-away  towns.  In  Ohio  only  six  per  cent,  of 
country  churches  have  resident  pastors,  and  the  propor- 
tion is  doubtless  smaller  than  that  in  most  Western  and 
Southern  states.  Very  many  of  these  non-resident  preach- 
ers are  engaged  six  days  in  the  week  in  other  employment, 
as  teachers,  students,  lawyers,  insurance  agents,  real  estate 
dealers,  merchants,  and  in  various  other  lines  of  business." 

Dr.  Victor  I.  Masters,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Church, 
speaking  of  his  denomination,  says:  "Of  18,000  country 
churches,  less  than  one  in  fifty  has  a  parsonage,  and  not 
more  than  one  in  twenty  has  a  resident  pastor." 

This  criticism  of  the  tenant  system  of  the  ministry  has 
no  reference  whatever  to  the  noble  army  of  itinerant  preach- 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         203 

ers  who  have  served  as  pioneers  in  destitute  regions,  nor 
to  the  self-denying  pastors  of  groups  which  could  not  in 
an>-  other  way  secure  the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  Such 
men  are  making  the  supreme  sacrifice  of  life,  sharing  the 
lot  of  their  people,  making  the  care  of  souls  their  chief 
concern,  and  not  mercl\-  a  b>-product  to  augment  their 
salary. 

The  criticism  of  the  absent  treatment  s>stem,  as  one 
explanation  of  the  dying  country-  church,  should  be  further 
modified  by  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of 
the  blame  must  be  borne  by  the  country  church  itself,  on 
account  of  its  notorious  illiberalit>-  in  the  support  of  its 
ministers. 

Many  successful  farmers  raise  everything  at  home, 
handling  comparatively  little  money  except  once  a  year, 
and  for  this  reason  cannot  appreciate  the  hardship  entailed 
on  their  pastor,  who  is  compelled  to  purchase  his  entire 
supplies,  wardrobe,  library,  etc.,  as  well  as  educate  his 
children,  at  some  remote  educational  center.  The  Rural 
Survey  officially  states:  "Country  people  are  contributing 
at  the  present  time,  instead  of  one-tenth  of  their  income 
to  the  church  in  the  country,  only  one-half  of  one  per  cent, 
of  their  income."  In  some  systematic  and  prudent  way, 
the  country  church  should  be  made  to  realize  that  the  entire 
obligation  of  self-denial  should  not  be  laid  upon  the  minis- 
try. These  influences  and  conditions  are  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation of  the  disintegration  of  the  country  church.  It 
could   scarcely  be  otherwise. 

The  Remedy. 

The  facts  are  easily  ascertained,  and  the  reasons  for  the 
disintegration  of  the  country  church  will  scarcely  provoke 
debate.  The  chief  consideration  is  the  remedx'.  "Is  there 
no  balm  in  Gilead?  Is  there  no  physician  there,"  who  can 
diagnose  the  disease  and  prescribe  a  spiritual  tonic  which 
will  restore  "the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my  people." 


204  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  most  common,  the  very  first  suggestion,  is  doubtless 
Presbyterial  oversight.  What  is  the  purpose  and  object  of 
a  Presbytery  except  "the  care  of  all  the  churches?"  Such 
should  likewise  be  its  aim.  Unfortunately  the  Presbytery 
is  burdened  also  with  the  responsibility  of  settling  "points 
of  order,"  "preparing  overtures  to  the  Assembly,"  "amend- 
ing the  Book  of  Church  Order,"  "financing  schemes  of 
benevolence,"  and  must  adjourn  promptly  to  catch  the 
homeward  train.  "As  thy  servant  was  busy  here  and 
there,"  the  main  business,  the  care  and  cure  of  souls,  often 
escapes  attention.  Alike  unfortunate  is  the  tendency  of 
the  individual  church  to  independency,  and  it  refuses  to  be 
grouped  against  its  wishes,  tastes,  and  prejudices.  It 
prefers  under  the  circumstances  to  remain  vacant.  The 
Presbyter)'  has  the  episcopal  oversight  and  control,  but 
rarely  exercises  it.  Both  Presbytery  and  the  church  itself 
agree  that  "something  ought  to  be  done,"  which  however 
is  rarely  done — and  the  country  church  continues  to  decline. 

Special  evanglistic  services  in  many  instances  have  proved 
efficacious.  The  Gospel  is  an  unfailing  remedy,  if  wisely 
administered  and  faithfully  received,  but  in  most  cases  the 
revival  is  spasmodic  and  the  inevitable  relapse  follows. 

The  effective  remedy  is  the  evangelistic  pastor  whose 
earnest  messages  are  inspired  by  genuine  love  of  souls,  in- 
ducing a  revival  all  the  year  round,  and  who  not  simply  in  the 
pulpit  but  "in  every  house  ceases  not  to  teach  and  preach 
Jesus  Christ,"  rather  than  the  "hail  fellow"  whose  delight 
is  to  retail  stale  jokes  and  "court  a  grin  when  he  should 
woo  a  soul." 

The  absentee  pastor  must  be  discarded.  The  profes- 
sional preacher  who  comes  once  a  month,  chiefly  to  augment 
his  salar)',  is  a  mere  makeshift,  a  hireling  minister.  If  the 
country  is  to  be  resuscitated,  the  Church  must  produce  a 
new  order  of  ministry.  The  spirit  of  Christ  must  again 
become  incarnate  among  men.  Ministers  who  live  where 
they  do  not  preach,  and  preach  where  they  do  not  live, 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         205 

should  be  barely  tolerated.  Men  who  consider  themselves 
buried  alive"  in  a  country  charge  should  be  discharged. 
If  college-bred  and  seminary-trained  men  are  unwilling 
to  serve  except  in  a  city  charge,  pra\er  must  be  made  to 
the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  to  raise  up  a  new  order  of  ministry 
"taught  of  the  Spirit,"  and  "filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Definite  sacrifices  must  be  made.  The  Rural  Survey 
prescribes  as  a  remedy- :  "The  preacher  and  his  family 
must  make  their  sacrifices  as  definitely  as  if  they  went 
to  China  or  to  Africa  to  preach  the  Gospel." 

Comparative  Sacrifices. 

Is  this  implication  and  call  upon  country  preachers  to 
make  the  same  sacrifices  as  foreign  missionaries  quite 
fair  to  the  former?  As  to  which  class  is  making  the  greater 
sacr  fices  may  be  judged  from  the  able  report  of  Prof. 
G.  Walter  Fiske  to  the  Convention  at  Columbus,  Ohio. 

"The  trite  witticism  that  the  rural  ministry  is  'trying  to 
live  on  earth  and  board  in  heaven'  is  not  far  from  the  facts. 
How  thousands  of  country  ministers  live  is  a  mystery  this 
Committee  will  not  attempt  to  explain,  for  they  are  cer- 
tainly not  paid  a  living  salary,  a  salary  sufficient  to  support 
a  family.  When  it  is  true  that  the  average  salary  of  coun- 
try ministers  is  less  than  $600,  it  is  seen  at  once  that  thous- 
ands of  men  must  be  receiving  considerably  less  to  bring 
the  average  so  low.  Hodcarriers  in  New  York  earn  $900 
a  year;  but  in  one  large  denomination  in  America  the  coun- 
try ministers  are  reported  to  receive  on  the  average  $325. 
It  is  obvious  that  these  ministers  must  supplement  their 
income  by  other  work  during  the  week,  or  else  depend  upon 
the  labor  of  their  wives  and  children. 

"Is  it  not  reasonable  to  argue  that  the  young  man  con- 
sidering the  Home  Mission  field  as  a  life-work  should  be 
respected  as  much  as  his  brother  who  goes  to  the  foreign 
field  for  life?  Is  it  too  much  to  expect  that  the  Church 
should   treat  the  home  missionary  as  well  as  the  foreign 


206  The  Ta.sk  That  Challenges 

missionary?  Foreign  Mission  Boards  guarantee  the  sup- 
port of  their  missionaries.  The  stipends  which  they  pay 
them  are  not  regarded  as  salaries  but  simply  as  support, 
and  they  usually  are  adequate.  This  Committee  wishes 
to  suggest  the  same  consideration  for  the  country  minister 
who  enters  the  rural  work  for  life.  If  he  is  a  thoroughly 
consecrated  and  well-equipped  man,  let  us  treat  him  as 
well  as  we  treat  the  foreign  missionary. 

"Yet  the  fact  is  we  are  sending  many  of  our  ablest  college 
and  seminary  men  to  the  foreign  field  and  very  few  of  them 
into  the  country  ministry  for  life.  This  is  partly  because 
there  is  a  decent  support  for  an  educated  man  and  his 
family  on  the  foreign  field,  whereas  the  financial  struggle 
is  twice  as  difficult  in  the  average  country  parsonage.  If 
this  condition  continues  indefiniteh",  how  can  we  escape 
getting  a  peasant  ministr>'  in  our  own  rural  America, 
inferior  in  every  respect  to  the  leadership  of  the  Church  in 
foreign  fields.'' 

"No  one  can  accuse  any  Foreign  Missionary  Board  of 
being  too  generous  with  the  men  and  women  who  go  into 
\oluntary  exile  for  Christ's  sake.  The  most  generous 
stipends  paid  by  any  missionary  board  are  none  too  gen- 
erous; but  the  fact  remains  that  they  are  far  beyond  the 
salaries  of  the  rural  ministry.  This  Committee  has 
courteously  been  furnished  full  statements  by  the  leading 
Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  America  as  to  their  financial 
j^rovision  for  their  missionaries  on  the  field.  We  have  also 
ascertained  the  salary  status  in  every  American  Foreign 
Mission  Board  six  years  ago.  In  every  instance,  though 
differing  in  details,  the  policy  is  the  same.  A  living  salar>' 
is  guaranteed  the  missionary. 

"The  lowest  foreign  missionary  salary  we  have  been  able 
to  discover  now  paid  b^■  any  strong  church  board  to  an 
ordained  married  man  is  $900  in  a  station  in  Africa;  but 
in  addition  to  this  "basal  salary,"  he  is  given  an  extra 
allowance  for  rent,   free  medical  attendance,   and  a  chil- 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         207 

dren's  allowance  of  $100  for  each  child  under  10,  and  $150 
for  each  child  between  ten  and  twenty.  The  average  in- 
come of  a  foreign  missionary  is  considerably  above  this. 
One  prominent  board  reports  "average  total  salary:  "In 
Ceylon,  $1,700;  other  parts  of  India,  SI, 500  to  $1,600; 
China,  $1,200  to  $1,600;  South  Africa,  minimum  $1,265, 
max'mum,  $2,500;  Japan,  minimum,  $1,665,  maximum 
$2,500. 

"Another  denomination,  paying  very  low  salaries  to 
rural  pastors  at  home,  pays  its  foreign  missionaries  as  fol- 
lows: In  Japan,  basal  salary,  $1,400  to  $1,900;  Korea, 
$1,200;  China,  $1,050;  North  China,  $1,200;  Africa,  $1,000. 
In  addition  to  the  above  basal  salaries,  an  allowance  of 
$100  to  $150  is  granted  for  each  child,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances." It  is  easier  to  die  a  martyr's  death,  than  to 
endure  the  lifelong  mart>rdom  of  a  sacrificial  life  in  an  ob- 
scure pastorate.  If  "volunteers"  wish  to  test  the  extent 
of  their  sacrifice  and  the  realitv  of  their  heroism,  let  them 
deny  themselves  the  privilege  of  going  to  the  foreign  field, 
and  yield  themselves  in  real  sacrifice  for  destitute  country 
places,  where  the  people  "are  scattered  abroad  as  sheep 
having  no  shepherd."  Let  the  Church  challenge  her  most 
promising  men,  and  see  how  many  will  respond.  If  the 
Church  can  secure  vo'unteers  of  this  character,  it  would  be 
comparatively  easy  to  save  the  country  church,  and  it 
would  carry  conviction  to  the  world,  if  the  greatest  of  all 
Christ's  works  were  reproduced,  "the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor." 

Illustrious  Example — Dr.  C.   IT'.  Grafton. 

All  denominations  can  furnish  many  worthy  examples 
of  such  heroism  and  sacrificial  service  in  obscure  country 
pastorates,  but  their  number  is  growing  proportionately 
smaller  with  passing  ^•ears.  \Mthout  invidious  comparison, 
one  conspicuous  living  illustration  may  be  permitted,  as  a 
type  of  this  "noble  army  of  mart>TS."     Rev.  C.  W.  Graf- 


208 


The  Task  That  Challenges 


REV.  C.  W.   GRAFTON,   D.   D., 

Forty  Years  Pastor  of  a  Country  Charge 

Union  Church,   Miss. 


Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly 

of  the 

Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S., 

1916. 


The  Coiiutry  Church  and  Rural  Life         209 

ton,  D.  D.,  of  Union  church,  Miss.,  has  served  but  one 
pastorate,  going  directh-  from  the  Seminary  to  his  present 
charge,  forty-four  years  ago.  Though  Hving  12  miles 
from  the  railroad,  he  has  refused  prominent  city  pastorates. 
Such  splendid  sacrifice  eventually  receives  due  recognition 
and  commensurate  compensation.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
Dr.  Grafton  is  by  far  the  most  influential  man  in  his  county, 
and  was  recently  honored  by  his  Church  with  the  highest 
office  in  its  gift,  having  been  unanimously  elected  Moder- 
ator of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United   States? 

Even  where  men  in  sufficient  numbers  are  secured — 
countr>-  pastors  with  consecration,  energy  and  holy  aims 
undertake  the  task — it  must  be  admitted  that  difficulties 
almost  insuperable  confront  them,  and  the  Church  should 
not  only  encourage  by  its  warmest  sympathy,  but  study  to 
suggest  methods  by  which  to  aid  these  men  in  their  work. 
Inadequate  salary  handicaps  and  isolation  separates  from 
the  sustaining  fellowship  and  helpful  counsel  of  city  com- 
radeship. No  ministerial  Association  serves  as  a  clearing 
house  for  the  country  pastor's  problems.  Traditional 
customs  and  the  ultra  conservation  of  his  "Aarons  and 
Hurs,"  tie  his  hands  or  threaten  his  term  of  service.  Lack 
of  training  for  his  peculiar  problems  and  embarrassing 
tasks  overwhelms  and  paralyzes  his  best  efforts. 

In  addition  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God 
acquired  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  he  must  acquire  the 
ability  to  bring  his  message  in  terms  and  language  appre- 
ciated and  understood  by  the  backward  classes,) illustrating 
after  the  manner  of  the  Master  by  rural  scenes,  incidents, 
and  Biblical  reference,  all  of  which  must  be  learned  in  the 
school  of  experience  and  in  contact  with  rural  life.  There 
are  problems  also  which,  though  secular,  economic  and 
social,  yet  have  a  moral  aspect,  indirect  it  is  true,  but 
powerfully  affecting  the  success  of  his  ministry  and  the 
development   of   the   country   church. 


210  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Training  for  the  Task. 

What  assistance  can  the  Church  render  the  country 
pastor  directly,  and  his  rural  pastorate  indirectly,  in  the 
way  of  training  for  meeting  his  perplexing  responsibilities? 

If  any  doubt  the  serious  need  of  better  training,  let  them 
ponder  the  following  expert  testimony  of  Prof.  W.  K.  Tate 
of  the  Peabody  Normal,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

"Practical  subjects  should  be  included  in  the  course, 
even  if  their  inclusion  should  make  necessary  the  elimina- 
tion of  Greek,  Hebrew,  comparative  religion,  or  other 
subjects  which  are  now  a  part  of  the  theological  course. 
That  the  old  course  of  training  for  ministers  does  not  meet 
country  needs,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  churches 
which  have  insisted  most  strongly  upon  an  educated  min- 
istry have  all  but  disappeared  from  the  country.  The  type 
of  education  which  the  minister  received  really  unfitted  him 
for  rural  service,  and  left  this  field  to  denominations  which 
are  less  exacting  in  their  educational  demand.  The  trouble 
has  been  not  too  much  education,  but  the  wrong  kind." 

In  view  of  all  these  considerations  and  the  vital  issues  in- 
volved, the  Church  should  appeal  to  its  wealthy  constituents 
to  endow  a  chair  in  some  Theological  Seminary,  well  equip- 
ped in  other  respects,  for  special  training  of  a  volunteer 
class  for  attacking  rural  problems  and  saving  the  country 
church.  In  the  meantime,  scholarships  at  much  less  cost 
might  be  secured  for  promising  individual  men  desiring  to 
invest  their  life  in  saving  rural  America.  Experiments  are 
already  being  made  in  different  sections,  of  conducting 
summer  conferences  and  institutes  for  the  special  benefit 
of  the  country  pastors.  Doubtless  any  one  of  our  Theo- 
logical Seminaries  would  lend  its  dormitory,  recitation 
rooms,  and  perhaps  its  faculty  might  volunteer,  or  indiv- 
idual professors  from  various  institutions,  to  devote  their 
learning  and  skill  to  the  vital  task  of  resuscitating  the  coun- 
try church  by  fitting  its  pastor  for  his  work.     It  would 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         211 

cost  but  little — traveling  expenses  and  board  being  the 
chief  item.  A  small  outlay  of  $25  to  $50  in  this  way  on  the 
part  of  the  country  pastor  would  perhaps  be  the  wisest 
and  best  investment  of  his  life.  Many  a  benevolent  church- 
man would  consider  it  a  privilege  to  contribute  to  such  a 
noble  purpose.  The  country  church  itself  could  send  its 
pastor  to  a  training  school  for  a  month's  vacation,  recrea- 
tion and  study;  and  it  would  receive  such  returns  in  the  way 
of  indirect  benefit  itself  as  would  more  than  compensate 
for   the  expenditure. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  subjects  em- 
braced in  the  curriculum  of  such  a  summer  school,  much 
less  undertake  in  this  brief  survey  to  develop  the  topics. 
To  indicate  and  enforce  mildly  the  benefits  of  this  sugges- 
tion, the  following  incomplete  scope  of  the  training  needs 
is  hereby  outlined: 

1.  Some  acquaintance  with  the  soil  of  the  farm  is  needed, 
as  well  as  with  the  soul  of  the  farmer.  The  suggestion 
that  the  country  preacher  should  be  an  expert,  teaching 
his  parishioners  farming  is  not  only  supremely  absurd, 
but  would  bring  him  into  collision  with  traditional  methods, 
handed  down  from  grandfathers.  At  the  same  time  he 
might  be  so  trained  as  to  enable  him  prudently  to  organize 
farmer's  clubs,  and  wisely  secure  lecturers  from  agricultural 
colleges,  or  good  literature  for  his  parishioners,  through 
the  unstrumentality  of  the  club. 

2.  Acquaintance  with  economic  conditions,  such  as  good 
roads,  by  means  of  the  Congress  organized  to  that  end, 
would  make  attendance  on  the  Sabbath  services  easier  and 
so  justify  the  prudent  promotion  of  better  roads,  as  well  as 
remove  the  reproach  that  the  Church  devotes  its  entire 
energies  to  directing  the  way  to  heaven,  and  has  no  concern 
about  the  way  to  the  sanctuary. 

3.  Training  for  securing  better  equipment  for  his  parish 
plant.  Many  country  churches,  instead  of  attracting  men 
to  the  house  of  worship,  make  such  demands  in  the  way  of 


212  The  Task  That  Challenges 

self-denial,  hardship,  and  discomforts,  as  to  repel  and  dim- 
inish attendance,  while  penalizing  those  who  are  faithful, 
by  causing  weariness  of  the  flesh  not  conducive  to  worship. 
Institutional  features  could  be  easih-  secured  and  wiseh' 
used,  as  in  the  cit>"  church,  such  as  reading  rooms,  gym- 
nasiums, a  meeting  place  for  boys  and  girls  clubs,  and 
social  gatherings.  As  there  was  no  room  for  the  infant 
Jesus  in  the  inn,  so  infants  are  unwelcome  today  in  public 
worship,  which  compels  the  mother  to  absent  herself  as 
well,  and  most  frequently  keeps  the  father  away,  because 
lacking  the  encouragement  of  being  accompanied  b\-  his 
wife.  A  nursery  where  one  or  two  mothers  could  alter- 
nately care  for  the  wards  of  the  church  might  make  the 
"cradle  roll"  a  help  rather  than  a  hindrance. 

4.  Training  for  co-operation  in  securing  better  school 
advantages  would  not  only  obviate  the  necessity  of  his  par- 
ishioners moving  to  town,  but  would  benefit  the  entire 
country,  by  educating  its  future  leadership  in  the  more 
healthy  environs  of  rural  life.  Without  being  officious, 
he  could  render  invaluable  aid  to  the  school  board  in  se- 
curing better  teachers  and  in  incorporating  high  school 
features  which  would  educate  the  community  in  mutual 
co-operation,  as  well  as  retain  the  children,  who  if  sent 
away  to  school  probably  would  be  lost  to  the  community. 
In  some  instances  a  parochial  school  might  be  founded 
whose  beneficial  effects  would  reach  latitudinally  in  all 
directions,  as  well  as  longitudinally  in  the  years  to  come. 

5.  Training  that  would  enable  him  to  organize  his  church 
to  minister  to  human  need.  Too  much  emphasis  ma>- 
possibly  be  pkiced  on  social  service,  especially'  b>'  a  mistaken 
humanitarianism,  which  makes  man  the  center  rather  than 
God,  which  confines  its  scope  to  the  present  life  and  its 
bodily  needs  to  the  exclusion  largely  of  the  soul  and  its 
eternal  interests,  thus  making  the  church  a  social  center 
rather  than  an  evangelistic  force.  Yet  it  is  also  possible 
for  the  church  to  err  in  the  opposite   direction,  and  forget 


The  Conufyij  Church  and  Rural  Life         213 

the  example  of  the  Master,  who  carried  in  one  hand  healing 
for  the  soul  and  in  the  other  healing  for  the  body,  as  the 
Great  Physician,  and  commanded  the  Apostles  to  "heal 
the  sick."  The  physical  and  social  needs  of  humanity 
both  justify  and  require  Christianity  to  meet  such  by  giv- 
ing them  a  relative  and  subordinate  place  in  the  scope  of 
Christian  activities.  If  these  social  needs  can  be  wisely 
used  and  made  an  adjunct  to  the  Gospel  of  ministry,  it 
would  be  criminal  to  lose  the  opportunity'  and  privilege. 
Sunday  baseball  and  demoralizing  dances  lead  many  young 
people  to  ruin,  because  the  good  people  are  not  providing 
better  and  higher  social  attractions  and  recreations.  A 
speaker  told  recently  of  a  young  men's  club  in  a  hall  just 
across  the  street  from  a  country  church,  whose  effects  were 
so  demoralizing  that  not  a  member  ever  entered  the 
church.  The  writer  saw  a  group  of  young  men  sitting  on 
the  fence  near  a  country  church  and  school,  whittling  idh', 
because  there  was  no  recreation  nor  attraction  to  engage 
their  attention  and  stimulate  their  nobler  impulses.  A 
debating  society,  a  literar>-  club,  even  a  healthy  baseball 
game,  attended  occasional!}'  by  the  pastor,  might  contri- 
bute to  physical,  social  and  intellectual  natures,  and  es- 
tablish ties  between  them  and  the  pastor  which  would 
constitute  a  means  of  approach  with  his  gospel  ministra- 
tions. 

The  writer,  during  a  city  pastorate  of  twelve  years,  pro- 
moted a  missionary  society  of  young  people  which  com- 
bined social  features,  games,  etc.  This  society,  of  both 
sexes,  met  monthly,  ordinarily  in  the  pastor's  home.  It 
largely  took  the  place  of  dances  and  card  parties,  and  min- 
istered to  their  social  natures.  It  drew  other  young  people 
to  these  meetings,  which  had  a  religious  feature,  and  gave 
the  pastor  a  wider  acquaintance  beyond  the  circle  of  his 
membership,  and  was  instrumental  also  in  swelling  his 
night  congregation  by  making  his  >'oung  people  a  recruit- 
ing force.     Besides  it  led  to  matrimonial  alliances  under 


214  The  Task  That  Challenges 

the  most  favorable  conditions.  The  \oung  people  of  that 
quondam  missionary  society  are  today  the  leadership  and 
strength  of  that  growing  congregation.  It  may  be  objected 
that  this  society  was  in  a  city  pastorate.  Yet  it  had  no 
feature  which  could  not  be  easily  duplicated  in  a  rural 
community,  and  would  doubtless  fill  even  a  larger  place 
in  the  life  of  a  country  parish.  It  may  be  further  objected 
that  it  drew  young  people  from  other  congregations;  but 
that  was  merely  incidental,  and  it  attracted  only  such  as 
were  not  interested  in  their  own  church  activities,  and  thus 
saved  them  from  being  lured  into  worldly  snares.  In 
any  event  there  is  no  patent  on  the  scheme,  and  no  reason 
why  other  denominations  should  not  employ  its  beneficial 
features. 

This  experiment  is  capable  of  endless  variations  and  ap- 
plications. A  missionary  society  of  older  people,  with  or 
without  the  social  and  recreational  features,  a  mission 
study  class  with  perhaps  an  occasional  missionary  address 
or  lecture  upon  kindred  topics,  could  be  promoted  in  such 
a  way  by  the  pastor  as  to  bring  out  and  cultivate  the  best 
elements  in  the  intellectual  and  religious  life  of  the  com- 
munity, as  well  as  train  leaders  for  the  future  demands  of 
the    kingdom. 

6.  Training  in  the  best  methods  of  financing  a  country- 
church.  The  backward  church  is  perhaps  in  greater  need 
of  a  wise  guiding  hand  in  the  development  of  its  finances 
than  in  any  other  aspect  of  its  activities.  It  can  no 
longer  be  financed  by  loose  change,  and  a  haphazard  method 
of  raising  its  pastor's  salary.  Farmers,  who  do  not  handle 
money  except  at  harvest,  and  conduct  their  own  business 
on  a  credit  system,  cannot  appreciate  the  need  or  benefit  of 
systematic  giving.  Lack  of  education  and  training  along 
the  line  of  church  finance,  on  the  part  of  rural  people,  con- 
stitutes a  barrier  in  thought  and  co-operation  between  pas- 
tor and  people  Many  a  farmer  of  wealth  does  not  realize 
his  relative  financial    strength  in  the  church  at  large,  and 


The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Life         215 

does  not  know  that  many  a  clerk  in  the  city,  with  nothing 
but  a  small  salary,  gives  ten  times  as  much  to  the  cause, 
which  they  both  equally  love.  Few  people  in  a  rural  com- 
munity have  adequate  instruction  in  stewardship,  and  con- 
sequently are  undeveloped  in  their  benevolent  sympathies 
and  in  their  vision  of  the  Kingdom's  needs;  and  therefore 
have  no  adequate  sense  of  personal  responsibility  and  moral 
obligation.  The  country  pastor  is  at  great  disadvantage 
in  being  compelled  to  deal  with  raw  material,  containing 
frequently  many  dangerous  explosive  elements.  For  the 
sake  of  his  church's  development  and  for  his  own  official 
position,  he  needs  special  training  in  methods  of  introducing 
and  conducting  the  Every  Member  Canvass,  and  in  culti- 
vating the  grace  of  benevolence  for  the  making  of  Christian 
character,  without  being  subject  to  the  suspicion  of  pleading 
for  his  own  salary. 

In  this  discussion  no  effort  has  been  attempted  to  fur- 
nish a  complete  diagnosis  of  the  disease  of  the  tottering 
county  church,  much  less  an  infallible  remedy,  but  merely 
to  gather  the  results  of  the  investigations  of  expert  and 
experienced  men,  with  suggest  ons  which  may  be  more  or 
less  worthy  of  the  profound  consideration  of  the  Church. 

The  key  to  the  situation  is  the  country  pastor.  Illus- 
trations are  on  record  of  marvelous  results  accomplished  by 
such  men  as  Matthew  B.  McNutt,  C.  O.  Gill,  Harlow  S. 
Mills,  and  others.  The  same  men  with  the  same  equip- 
ment, the  same  methods,  would  succeed  in  almost  any  com- 
munity or  denomination.  If  we  could  secure  a  sufficient 
number  of  such  men  as  to  contribute  a  chain  linking  neigh- 
borhood to  neighborhood,  we  can  well  imagine  resusci- 
tated communities  and  revived  churches,  till  the  country 
church  becomes  once  more  a  great  moral  standard  and  a 
spiritual  force  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  Nation,  while 
the  thrill  of  its  revived  life  and  expanding  activities  would 
reach  "unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 


216-  Tlie  Tasl-  That  Challenges 

Bailey's  poem  of  the  Rural  Church  may  be  somewhat 
overworked,  but  let  it  speak  once  more  the  message  of  its 
mission  till  every  country  church,  in  every  community, 
shall  join  the  anthem  which  shall  be  sung,  and  the  music 
goes   echoing   around    the   world. 

THE  RURAL  CHURCH 

"In  some  great  day 

Tlie  Country  Churcih 
Will  find  its  voice 
And  it  will  say: 

"I  stand  in  the  fields 
Where  the  wide  earth  yields 

Her  beauties  of  fruit  and  grain . 
Where  the  furrows  turn 
Till  the  plowshares  burn, 

As  they  come  round  and  round  again: 
Where  the  workers  pray 
With  their  tools  all  day, 

In  sunshine  and  shadow  and  rain. 

"And  I  bid  them  tell 
Of  the  crops  they  sell 

And  speak  of  the  work  they  have  done; 
I  speed  every  man 
In  his  hope  and  plan, 

And  follow  his  day  with  the  sun ; 
And  grasses  and  trees, 
The  birds  and  the  bees — 

I  know  and  feel  ev'ry  one. 

"And  out  of  it  all 
As  the  seasons  fall 

I  build  my  great  temple  alway; 
I  point  to  the  skies, 
But  my  footstone  lies 

In  commonplace  work  of  the  day; 
For  I  preach  the  worth 
Of  the  nati\'e  earth — 

To  love  and  to  work  is  to  pray." 


The  Conn  fry  Churcli  and  Rural  Life         217 

Program  for  the  Rural  Church. 

The  Southern  Conference  on  Education  and  Industry, 
at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  April,  1915,  submitted  for  consid- 
eration the  following  program,  as  a  means  of  resuscitating 
the  countrv  church : 


Program  for  Rural  Church  in  the  South. 

1.  Good  management  of  the  congregation  according  to 
its  own  form  of  government,  with  an  official  board,  care- 
fully elected  and  well  trained  for  its  work,  each  officer  con- 
fining himself  to  his  powers  and  duties,  and  neglecting 
none  of  them. 

2.  Pastor  resident  in  the  community,  fulfilling  the  con- 
dition— "Every  minister  in  his  field  every  week." 

3.  A  church  or  other  building  and  grounds  centrally  lo- 
cated and  adapted  for  meeting  all  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity; with  comfort,  for  man  in  his  religious,  educational 
and  social  needs,  and  for  the  beast  which  brings  him  to 
church. 

4.  An  annual  season  of  revival  meetings,  to  bring  sinners 
to  Christ  and  to  lead  the  young  to  a  decision  for  Christ, 
and  to  comfort  and  inspire  the  members. 

5.  A  systematic  survey  of  the  w^hole  communit)',  that 
the  church  may  neglect  none,  and  have  record  of  all,  who 
live  within  a  "team  haul"  of  the  church  house. 

6.  Recreation,  mental  training,  social  life  and  spiritual 
culture  through  Sunday  School  and  Young  People's  So- 
ciety. 

7.  The  church  and  its  allies,  which  are  working  for  the 
community's  general  welfare,  should  meet  at  least  once 
each  year  and  confer  in  the  common  interest.  These 
allies  are  the  school,  club,  lodge,  lecture,  bureau,  farmer's 
institute,  demonstration  service,  good  road  promoters, 
and  other  agencies  working  for  the  good  of  all  who  live  in 
the   place. 


218  The  Task  That  Challenges 

8.  A  systematic  financial  plan,  as  democratic  as  the 
method  of  governing,  that  through  the  participation  of 
every  member  will  produce  mone>'  enough  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  permanence  and  progress. 

9.  A  regular  system  of  evangelizing  neglected  com- 
munities within  a  convenient  drive  of  the  church  house, 
and  of  extending  the  activities  of  the  church  in  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood  to  those  country  neighborhoods. 

10.  The,  country  church  should  have  a  share  in  giving 
the  gospel  to  all  men,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  should 
have  a  special  connection  and  adequate  information  con- 
cerning some  particular  foreign  mission  field. 


X. 
THE  HAND   OF  WOMAN. 


"And  the  Women  Who  Published  the  Tidings  Were  a  Great 

Host." 


Bv  Hallie  Paxson  Winsborough/ 


The  Christian  Church  has  ever  had  in  its  women  earnest 
and  devoted  followers  of  the  lowly  Christ.  Perhaps  it  is. 
because  of  what  the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  meant  to  the 
freedom  and  development  of  woman  that  she  has  felt  an 
especial  responsibility  for  promoting  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Woman  s   Work  as  Recorded  in  the  New  Testament. 

The  New  Testament  records  many  examples  of  this  re- 
sponse on  the  part  of  the  women.  It  was  a  woman, 
Elizabeth,  who  first  rejoiced  in  the  prospective  coming  of 
the  Lord;  a  woman  was  the  first  witness  of  the  great 
resurrection;  it  was  a  woman  who  anointed  his  head  with 
precious  ointment  and  washed  his  feet  with  her  tears. 

Women  followed  our  Saviour  weeping  and  wailing  all 
that  sad  journey  to  the  cross  and  at  the  crucifixion  "many 
women  were  there  .  .  .  which  followed  Jesus  from 
Galilee  ministering  to  him."  Women  anointed  his  body 
for  burial,  and,  after  his  body  was  placed  in  the  tomb, 
women  watched  there  "sitting  over  against  the  sepulchre." 
Women  were  the  first  to  reach  that  sacred  tomb  on  the 
morning  of  his  resurrection,    coming   there    "while  it  was 


*Prepared  at  the  request  of  the  author. 


220  Tlie  Task  Thai  CliaUenges 

yet  dark  as  it  began  to  dawn."  After  his  resurrection  his 
first  appearance  was  to  the  women  whom  he  bade  go  and 
tell  the  disciples,  "I  ascend  unto  my  Father."  Women 
ministered  unto  him  in  life  all  along  his  thorny  pathway, 
ever  remaining^ "faithful  unto  death,"  even  when  his  best 
beloved  disciples  deserted  him.  It  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  the  Christian  Church  in  modern  times  finds 
women  still  given  to  good  works  in  all  branches  of  mis- 
sionary activity. 

The  Modern   Missionary  Activity  of  Women. 

The  modern  missionary  movement  is  but  little  over  a 
century  in  duration,  and  almost  from  its  inception  we  find 
women  uniting  individual  interests  in  an  effort  to  hasten 
the  solution  of  the  great  missionary  problem.  First  the 
local  missionary-  societies  were  organized;  later  these  were 
united  in  groups  corresponding  to  the  organization  of  the 
church  proper,  until  to-day  we  find  every  evangelical  de- 
nomination in  Christendom  with  its  organization  of  wo- 
men co-operating  with  the  church  in  the  promotion  of  its 
missionary  propaganda. 

Interdenominational  Organization  of  Women. 

The  increased  efficiency  which  accrued  to  the  various 
denominations  from  the  united  efforts  of  its  societies 
eventually  led  to  the  uniting  of  representatives  of  the 
various  women's  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  Boards  into 
two  great  interdenominational  organizations,  the  Council 
of  Women  for  Home  Missions  and  the  Federation  of  Wo- 
men's Boards  for  Foreign  Missions,  which  enroll  in  their 
membership  practically  all  of  the  leading  Women's  Mis- 
sionary Boards  of  America.  The  most  valuable  practical 
result  of  these  interdenominational  Boards  is  the  educa- 
tional work  accomplished  through  the  united  study  of  the 
mission  fields. 


The  Hand  of  Woman  221 

United  Educational   Work. 

The  Central  Committee  for  the  united  stuch'  of  Foreign 
Missions,  which  was  realh'  the  mother  of  the  Federation  of 
Women's  Boards  for  Foreign  Missions,  was  an  outgrowth 
of  the  great  Ecumenical  Conference  held  in  New  York 
City  in  1900.  Each  year  since  that  time  a  Foreign  Mission 
Textbook  has  been  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  Woman's 
Missionary  Societies  and  the  circulation  of  these  books  has 
increased  from  year  to  year  until  at  the  close  of  1915  one 
million  two  hundred  thousand  (1,200,000)  books  had  been 
sold.  In  1906  this  same  Committee  began  the  publica- 
tion of  a  Junior  Foreign  Mission  Textbook,  sales  of  which 
averaged  about  ten  thousand  copies  a  year. 

The  Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions,  which  was 
organized  in  1908,  has  published  eight  Home  Mission 
Study  Books,  which  have  had  a  circulation  of  about  two 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand  (270,000)  volumes.  Wr>- 
valuable  educational  work  has  also  been  accomplished  l)>- 
this  organization  in  promoting  the  teaching  of  English  to 
the  immigrants. 

Woman  s   Work  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,    U.  S. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  women  of  the  South- 
ern Presl)yterian  Church  were  among  the  first  in  America 
to  organize  local  missionary  societies,  that  denomination 
was  the  very  last  of  all  evangelical  churches  to  perfect 
the  organization  of  its  woman's  work  into  a  systematic 
plan  which  should  unify  their  entire  work  in  the  denomina- 
tion. 

Early  Missionary  Societies. 

The  early  missionary  societies  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  South,  which  were  among  the  first  organized 
in  America,  have  a  history  that  is  most  interesting. 

The  first  woman's  organization  in  the  South  of  which  we 


222  The  Task  That  Challenges 

have  an  authentic  record  is  the  "Female  Bible  Society  of 
Richmond  and  Manchester",  which  was  organized  in  1817 
as  an  auxiliary  to  the  Bible  Society  of  Virginia.  Miss  Jane 
Rutherfoord,  Historian  of  the  Virginia  Synodical  Auxiliary, 
in  a  most  interesting  paper  read  before  the  East  Hanover 
Presbyterial  Auxiliary,  said:  "This  Society  was  inter- 
denominational and  held  meetings  annually  at  their  re- 
spective churches,  ministers  of  different  denominations 
presiding.  At  the  meeting  in  the  Second  Presbyterian 
church,  over  which  Right  Reverend  Bishop  Moore  pre- 
sided, he  recommended  that  the  members  should  feel  it  a 
duty  two  or  three  weeks  previous  to  the  annual  meeting  to 
'converse  as  much  as  possible  on  the  importance  of  the 
Bible  cause  amongst  ourselves  and  throughout  the  world.' 
On  March  31st,  1834,  after  an  address  from  Mrs.  Graves, 
a  missionary  from  Bombay,  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
seemed  to  rest  with  great  power  on  the  women,  they  de- 
cided to  set  aside  the  old  Constitution  and  adopt  a  new 
one  better  adapted  to  the  state  of  the  Church  and  promised 
to  raise  $1,000  the  same  >'ear  'to  send  the  sacred  Scriptures 
for  distribution  among  the  heathen.'  " 

The  second  society  in  our  bounds  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge  is  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society  of  New 
Providence  church  (Lexington  Presbytery),  Virginia. 
This  Society,  organized  in  1819,  is  still  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition and  was  even  at  that  early  date  organized  on  the 
"circle  plan"  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  scattered  country  con- 
gregation. The  following  constitution,  written  in  most 
beautiful  script  by  the  clerk  of  the  session  at  that  time, 
was  given  to  the  Society  for  its  guidance.  The  organiza- 
tion has  adopted  some  changes,  but  is  still  guided  in  the 
nuiin  bv  this  constitution: 


The  Hand  of  Woman  223 

"Constitution    of    Female    Benevolent    Society    of 
New  Providence  Church. 

"New  Providence,  November  24,  18 ig. 

Impressed  with  the  behef  that  it  is  our  duty  to  promote 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom  by  every  means  in  our  power,  we 
the  subscribers  having  met  agreeable  to  notice  and  formed 
ourselves  into  a  society  for  the  aforesaid  purpose  do  adopt 
the  following  constitution  vvs. : 

1st.  The  name  of  the  association  shall  be  the  Female 
Benevolent  Society  of  New  Providence  Church. 

2nd.  The  object  of  the  society  is  to  raise  money  for  the 
support  of  missionaries  to  aid  pious  young  men  to  qualify 
for  the  ministry  or  any  other  benevolent  cause  said  society 
may  think  best. 

3rd.  None  but  females  shall  be  members  of  this  society, 
but  donations  will  be  gratefully  received  from  any  one. 

4th.  Any  female  may  become  a  member  by  paying  fifty 
cents  at  the  time  of  subscribing  and  continue  a  member 
so  long  as  she  pays  fifty  cents  a  year. 

5th.  There  shall  be  a  stated  meeting  of  the  society  on 
the  first  Wednesday  of  September  at  the  aforesaid  church. 
At  each  meeting  there  shall  be  nine  managers  chosen  to  act 
for  one  year. 

6th.  Said  managers  shall  appoint  out  of  their  own  body 
a  president  and  vice-president  and  also  from  their  own 
body  or  from  the  members  of  the  society  a  treasurer  and 
secretary.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  to  receive 
all  monies  collected  by  the  society  and  to  pay  away  the 
same  as  directed  by  the  managers.  The  secretary  shall 
keep  a  fair  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  society.  Said 
managers  shall  meet  on  their  own  adjournment,  conduct  the 
concerns  of  this  association  and  make  a  report  to  the  society 
at  their  annual  meeting. 


224 


The  Task  That  Challem/es 


ANCIENT  MEMORIAL  TABLET 


Monument  in  Cross  Creek  Cemetery  which  bears 
the   following    inscription: 

"Sacred  to  the  memory  of  our  Pastor,  Rev.  James 
Douglas,"  etc. 

Erected  by  the  Female  Juvenile  Missionary  Society 
of  Fayetteville  Presbyterian  Church,  in  1837. 


The  Hand  of  Woman  225 

7th.  At  each  annual  meeting  there  shall  be  a  sermon 
delivered  by  a  minister,  if  one  can  be  procured,  and  every 
meeting  shall  be  opened  and  concluded  with  prayer. 

8th.  Each  member  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  and  the 
constitution  may  be  amended  at  any  annual  meeting,  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  concurring." 

Most  interesting  indeed  is  the  following  account  by  Mrs. 
Lauchlin  Donald  of  two  of  the  oldest  missionary  societies 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  Carolina:  "In  the 
effort  to  honor  their  guests  to  the  Presbyterial  meeting, 
things  new  and  old  were  brought  out  from  their  treasure 
house,  and  their  precious  heirlooms  arranged  for  inspection. 
Near  the  pulpit  was  displayed  a  beautiful  old  communion 
service,  consisting  of  the  usual  tankard  and  goblets,  and 
two  silver  baskets  of  antique  design.  Two  of  these  pieces 
bear  the  following  inscription:  'Presented  by  a  Society  of 
Young  Ladies  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fayetteville, 
September  20th,  1824.'  The  sessional  record  book  has 
this  entry  for  March  29th,  1828:  'A  Society  of  Young 
Ladies  have  presented  to  our  church  for  sacramental  pur- 
poses, the  following  ^•essels  of  silver  plate,'  etc.  That  this 
Young  Ladies'  Society-  was  a  Missionary  Society  is  proven 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  referred  to  as  the  'Young  Ladies' 
Missionary  Society'  in  a  sessional  record  of  1831.  This 
silver  has  been  in  continuous  use  by  this  congregation 
until  the  adoption  of  individual  cups,  the  baskets  still 
being  retained  as  part  of  the  present  ser\'ice.  But  to  ses- 
sional records  and  old  silver  is  added  the  testimony  of 
enduring  marble.  Across  the  creek  from  the  church,  in 
the  old  Cross  Creek  Cemetery,  stands  a  monument  bear- 
ing this  inscription:  'Sacred  to  the  memory  of  our  Pastor, 
Rev.  James  Douglas,  etc.  Erected  by  the  Female  Juvenile 
Missionary  Society  of  Fayetteville  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  1837.'  Can  it  be  wondered  at  that  the  descendants  of 
this  Young  Ladies'  Missionary  Society  of  1824  and  this 
juvenile  society  of  1837  are  enthusiastic  missionary  work- 
ers?" 


226  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Of  peculiar  interest  is  the  history  of  the  Woman's  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of 
Augusta,  since  in  that  historic  church  was  held  the  first 
General  Assembly  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  in 
1861.  The  memorial  volume  of  the  centennial  celebration 
of  this  church  contains  the  following: 

"Almost  as  old  as  the  century  which  nearly  spans  the 
modern  missionary  movement  is  the  Ladies'  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  our  beloved  church.  In  July,  1828,  the 
'Missionary  Herald'  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  records  a 
contribution  from  the  Ladies'  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Augusta.  LIntil  1833  an 
annual  acknowledgment  of  contributions  from  the  same 
source  was  made  by  that  paper.  Annual  meetings  only 
were  held,  and  the  Sunday  following  a  sermon  on  missions 
was  preached  to  the  congregation.  Missions  in  Bogota, 
Armenia,  Brazil  and  China  were  aided  at  various  times  by 
this  society.  The  first  meeting  duly  recorded  occurred  on 
February  3rd,  1845.  The  education  of  an  Armenian  girl, 
besides  money  given  in  other  directions,  then  constituted 
the  work  of  the  society,  which  had  a  membership  of  fifty- 
eight  and  observed  a  monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  all 
missions." 

Missionary  societies  in  the  local  churches  increased  in 
number  slowly  as  the  years  passed.  Not  until  the  year 
1905  was  a  report  of  the  Women's  societies  made  to  the 
General  Assembly,  at  which  time  there  were  about  1,100 
societies. 

Presbyterial  Organizations. 

Twenty  years  before  this,  however,  two  consecrated 
women,  Mrs.  Josiah  Sibley,  a  beloved  "Mother  in  Israel," 
of  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  Miss  Jennie  Hanna,  of  Kansas 
City,  Missouri,  a  young  girl  filled  with  the  divine 
optimism  of  youth,  had  started  a  campaign  among  the 
societies  of  the  church  for  the  organization  of  Presbyterial 


PIONEERS  IN  WOMAN'S  WORK 


%^^ ,9-,_^.^^=^ 


228  The  Ta^k  That  Challenges 

Unions.  They  met  with  a  quick  and  general  response 
from  their  sisters  in  the  church,  but  not  so  cordial  an  ap- 
proval from  the  brethren.  There  were  throughout  the 
Assembly  at  that  time  ministers  akin  to  the  pastor  in 
Michigan  who,  some  fifty  years  ago  said,  "I  am  always 
present  at  the  meetings  of  the  women  of  my  church,  for 
no  one  knows  what  they  would  pray  for  if  left  alone." 
However,  the  women  interested  in  better  organization 
had  the  hearty  support  and  sound  counsel  of  the  Secretary 
of  Foreign  Missions,  Dr.  M.  H.  Houston,  and  many  other 
leading  ministers,  and  in  1888  two  Presbyterial  Unions 
were  organized,  the  first  East  Hanover,  Virginia,  with  Mrs. 
Sarah  Price  as  President,  and  the  second,  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  with  Mrs.  B.  F.  Hall  President.  These 
unions  had  the  approval  of  their  Presbyteries  and  were 
quickly  followed  by  others  until  within  a  short  time  a  score 
of  unions  were  organized. 

Synodical  Organization. 

Organization  was  now  moving  a  little  more  rapidly. 
Seventy  years  and  more  had  elapsed  between  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  local  society  and  the  first  Presbyterial 
union.  Sixteen  years  passed  before  the  third  step  was 
taken — in  uniting  the  Presbyterials  into  Synodicals. 
The  first  Synodical  organization  of  the  women  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church  was  perfected  in  Virginia, 
in  1904,  with  the  approval  of  the  Synod  and  as  a  direct 
result  of  the  untiring  efforts  of  Mrs.  J.  Calvin  Stewart 
and  her  band  of  noble  helpers.  The  Synodical  of  Texas 
was  organized  a  few  months  later  in  the  same  year,  and 
Alabama  followed  next  in  order. 

The  Woman's  Auxiliary  Organized. 

The  year  1911  found  us  with  seventy-eight  out  oi  eight>- 
four  Presbyteries  and  five  out  of  fourteen  Synods  organized 
for  woman's  work,  but  apparently  no  nearer  than  before 


The  Hand  of  Woman  229 

to  any  general  organization.     Miss  Jennie  Hanna,  in  her 
*"History  of  the  Woman's  AuxiHary,"  says: 

''All  over  the  South  there  were  women  of  practical 
ability  and  faith  who  recognized  the  waste  of  power  and 
opportunity  because  we  were  only  scattered  units,  not 
utilizing  one  particle  of  the  strength  and  inspiration  of 
concentration  of  forces.  When  the  Woman's  Jubilee  was 
celebrated  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  in  1910  and 
1911,  celebrating  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Woman's 
Organized  Work,  when  the  Woman's  Boards  of  all  denomi- 
nations shared  the  conferences  of  experienced  workers, 
exchanging  invaluable  plans  for  larger  efficiency  and 
realizing  the  blessed  fellowship,  which  is  the  bond  of 
Christian  unity,  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  was 
the  only  evangelical  denomination  in  this  whole  country 
which  had  no  central  organization  of  its  women,  no  com- 
prehensive record,  no  accurate  reports  of  their  splendid 
work.  .  .  .  With  women  of  zeal  and  consecration 
who  had  labored  grandly  for  missions,  we  had  not  one  word 
of  history  or  achievement  in  proper  shape  to  add  to  the 
glorious  Jubilee  records!  Certainly  the  time  was  fully 
ripe  for  wiser  conduct  of  our  work.  Mrs.  W.  C.  Wins- 
borough  grasped  the  full  significance  of  the  situation. 
All  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1911  the  necessity  of 
uniform  organization  under  the  leadership  of  one  efficient 
woman  became  more  impressed  upon  her  heart.  Finally 
she  wrote  out  'Some  Reasons  Why  a  Woman  Secretary  of 
Woman's  Work  is  Needed  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,'  and  at  once  sent  the  paper  to  Mrs.  D.  A.  Mc- 
Millan, President  of  Missouri  Synodical,  asking  her  co- 
operation". 

Mrs.  McMillan  vigorously  set  about  to  secure  the 
approval  of  the  women  of  the  Church,  with  the  result 
that  in  October,  1911,  the  Woman's  Synodical  of  Missouri 


*History  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary,  by  Jennie  Hanna.     Published 
by  Woman's  Auxiliary,  Atlanta,  Ga. — 10  cts. 


230  Tlic  Task  Thai  Challenges 

asked  the  Synod  of  Missouri  for  its  approval  of  an  overture 
to  the  General  Assembly  requesting  the  appointment  of  a 
woman  secretary  of  woman's  work,  whose  business  should 
be  the  completing  of  the  organization  of  the  women  of  the 
Church,  standardizing  the  activities  of  the  various  branches, 
and  promoting  missionary  education  in  the  various  or- 
ganizations. Receiving  the  unanimous  approval  of  the 
Synod,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  promote  the  cam- 
paign for  better  organization  among  the  women  through- 
out the  Church.  This  committee  consisted  of  Mrs.  W. 
C.  Winsborough  and  Miss  Jennie  Hanna,  thus  bringing 
again  into  the  campaign  the  wise  counsel  of  Miss  Hanna 
who,  though  many  years  an  invalid,  had  never  lost  her 
early  interest  in  perfecting  a  general  organization.  So 
quickly  did  the  missionary  women  rally  to  the  plan  of 
better  organization  that  the  overture  went  before  the 
General  Assembly  with  the  approval  of  all  of  the  five 
Synodicals  then  organized,  forty-one  Presbyterials,  one 
Synod  and  four  Presbyteries.  The  overture  was  granted 
without  a  dissenting  voice  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
session  at  Bristol,  May,  1912,  and  a  Supervisory  Com- 
mittee, consisting  of  the  four  Executive  Secretaries  of  the 
Church  was  appointed  to  guide  and  direct  the  work  and 
to  select  the  woman  "Secretary,"  to  be  known  hereafter 
as  Superintendent  of  Woman's  Work.  In  August,  1912, 
the  supervisory  committee  met  at  Montreat  in  conference 
with  the  presidents  of  the  five  Synodicals  and  other  lead- 
ing women  of  the  Church  and  formally  erected  the  organiza- 
tion known  as  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  addition  to  the  steps  already 
approved  by  the  Church,  viz..  Local  Society,  Presbyterial 
and  Synodical,  they  added  another,  known  at  first  as 
Woman's  Council,  afterwards  the  Woman's  Advisory  Com- 
mittee. This  body  consisted  of  the  Synodical  Presidents 
and  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  the 
Executive  Secretaries  and  the  Superintendent  of  Woman's 


The  Hand  of  Wo7nan  231 

Work.  The\'  selected  at  this  time  Mrs.  W.  C.  Wins- 
borough  to  fill  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Woman's 
Work. 

Thus,  after  almost  one  hundred  years  of  organized  work 
for  missions,  the  women  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church  secured  an  effective,  logical,  systematized  organiza- 
tion for  their  missionary  activities. 

The  Plan  of  the  Auxiliary. 

The  accompanying  diagram  illustrates  the  form  of  or- 
ganization given  to  the  women  of  the  Church  by  our  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  This  plan  has  some  special  features  which 
are  characteristic  of  our  denomination. 

Auxiliary  in  Nature. 

First:  The  organization  is  entirely  auxiliary  in  character. 
The  executive  unit  of  the  organization  is  the  mis- 
sionary society  of  the  local  church  which  acts  under  the 
control  of  its  session  in  true  Presbyterian  style.  The 
Presbyterials,  Synodicals,  Woman's  Advisory  Committee 
and  Superintendent  only  recommend  courses  of  action 
and  have  no  authority  inherent  in  them.  The  entire  or- 
ganization is  very  closely  allied  with  the  organization  of 
the  Church  proper  through  special  committees  appointed 
in  Synods  and  Presbyteries  for  co-operating  with  the  cor- 
responding woman's  organization.  The  Supervisory  Com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  assists  and  co- 
operates with  the  Woman's  Advisory  Committee  and  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary.  Thus  we  have 
a  harmonious,  practical  and  thoroughly  Presbyterian  form 
of  organization  which  grants  to  the  woman's  work  the  high- 
est efficiency  and  at  the  same  time  emphasizes  the  unity 
of  the  church  membership. 


232 


The  Task  That  Challenges 


THE  WOMAN S  AUXILIARY 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  U.S. 

SUPT.'S      /\      OFFICE 


TWENTY  S(X  HUNDRED   LOCAL   SOCIETIES - 
70,000    MEMBERS 


ALL  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  CHURCH  (ABOUT  200.00Q) 
—  PRAVE.R — 


OUR  aim: 


ALL 


THE  WOMEN 
OF   THE 

CHURCH 
THESE   FIGURES   ARE   FOR  YEAR    I9l6 


A    I     I       THE  CAUSES 
^°"/\\  OF     THE 

MLL      CHURCH 


The  Hand  of  Woman  233 

Includes  All  the  Causes  of  the  Church. 

Second :  The  Woman's  Auxiliary  includes  in  its  activities 
all  departments  of  the  work  of  the  Church  proper.  The 
first  missionary  organizations  of  the  Church  were  only  for 
Foreign  Missions,  Home  Missions  being  added  to  their  ac- 
tivities later.  At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  Auxili- 
ary, however,  the  women  of  the  Church  had  come  to  see  that 
all  departments  of  the  work  of  the  Church  are  truly  mis- 
sionary in  character  and  that  Christian  Education  and 
Ministerial  Relief,  Sunday  School  and  Young  People's 
Work  are  both  necessary  factors  in  the  work  of  evangelizing 
the  world  and  hence  deserved  their  share  of  recognition 
in  the  study,  prayers  and  gifts  of  the  Woman's  Missionary 
Societies.  The  effect  of  this  feature  of  our  work  has  be- 
come apparent  during  the  short  life  of  our  organization 
in  a  broader  education  and  deeper  interest  in  all  of  the 
agencies  of  the  Church  on  the  part  of  the  societies.  Each 
Society,  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  conforming  to  the 
Assembly's  plan  has  among  its  officers  secretaries  repre- 
senting the  causes  of  the  Church,  and  thus  the  Society  re- 
ceives a  well-rounded  missionary  education. 

Gifts  Apportioned  in  the  Assembly's  Percentages. 

Third:  A  third  characteristic  of  the  organization  of  the 
Woman's  Auxiliary  is  the  approximate  proportioning  of 
our  missionary  gifts  to  the  various  causes  of  the  Church  in 
the  percentages  which  are  given  the  Church  at  large  by  the 
General  Assembly  each  year.  Until  this  plan  was  adopted, 
many  of  our  missionary  societies  were  very  limited  in  their 
interests,  information  and  gifts.  A  very  large  proportion 
of  the  Societies  were  working  only  for  the  needs  of  the  local 
church;  some  Societies  were  studying  and  giving  only  to 
Foreign  Missions;  others  to  Home  Missions  only.  With 
the  request  of  the  General  Assembly  that  the  gifts  of  the 
Society  be  distributed  among  the  various  activities  of  the 


234  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Chur'^h  came  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  women  l(j  better 
understand  the  causes  to  which  their  gifts  were  to  be  given. 
Without  lessening  the  gifts  or  pledges  which  they  had 
formerly  been  giving  to  any  department  of  the  Church,  the 
societies  are  gradually  approximating  the  percentages  which 
the  General  Assembly  recommends  in  the  division  of  their 
gifts. 

Some  Results. 

The  wisdom  of  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
erecting  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  became  speedily  apparent. 
At  the  close  of  the  first  year  the  Auxiliary  had  every  Pres- 
byterial  and  Synodical  in  the  church  uniformly  organized, 
giving  us  eighty-two  Presbyterials  (Texas,  Mexican,  and 
two  Negro  Presbyteries  were  not  yet  ready  for  organiza- 
tion), and  fifteen  Synodicals  through  which  to  carry  on  the 
organized  work.  •  Practical  plans  for  increasing  the  number 
of  local  societies  are  being  worked  out  in  each  of  the  Pres- 
byterials and  the  number  of  members  gathered  into  the 
societies  is  being  greatly  increased. 

Educational  Work. 

The  completion  of  the  organization  of  the  Woman's 
Auxiliary  made  possible  a  plan  of  missionary  education 
throughout  the  various  divisions  of  the  organization.  A 
comprehensive  plan  to  promote  regular  study  was  out- 
lined for  the  societies  and  a  Year  Book  of  Programs  pre- 
pared for  their  use.  From,  a  very  small  beginning  in  1914 
we  find  that  the  Year  Book  of  Programs  for  1916-17  has 
had  a  circulation  of  seven  thousand.  These  programs  in- 
clude during  the  year  all  the  causes  of  the  Church  and  are 
accompanied  by  the  necessary  literature  for  preparing  the 
program  as  well  as  material  f(^r  a  series  of  devotionals 
which  sound  the  keynote  of  tiie  entire  program.  Bible 
study  and  prayer  life  are  thus  emphasized  in  the  societies 


The  Hand  of  Woman  235 

as  never  before  and  the  result  is  already  i)ec()ming  apparent 
in  the  quickened  interest  in  Bible  classes  throughout  the 
organization. 

Mission  Study. 

Mission  Study  classes  are  systematically  promoted 
throughout  the  organization,  November  being  the  month 
for  the  study  of  Home  Missions  and  February  the  time  for 
the  study  of  Foreign  Missions.  More  than  one  thousand 
study  classes  were  enrolled  last  \ear  in  our  Societies. 

The  Missionary  Survey. 

Some  pages  of  the  Missionary  Survey  have  been  set  aside 
for  the  use  of  the  Auxiliary  and  it  has  proven  a  valuable 
educational  medium  through  which  to  reach  the  reading 
public  of  the  Church.  The  church  papers  have  also  estab- 
lished a  woman's  department  in  which  they  co-operate 
most  cordially  with  the  woman's  organizations  of  the 
church. 

Summer  Conference. 

The  official  summer  conference  of  the  Auxiliary  occurs 
each  summer  at  Montreat,  N.  C,  and  is  an  important  factor 
in  the  missionary  education  of  the  women  of  the  Church, 
especially  of  the  leaders  in  our  organized  work.  The  pro- 
gram includes  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  Home  and  Foreign 
Miss  on  Textbooks,  Parliamentary  Practice  and  Story 
Telling,  while  missionary  addresses  and  group  conferences 
of  workers  make  up  a  practical  and  enjoyable  course  of 
study.  Some  of  our  Synods  have  summer  conferences  at 
which  the  Woman's  Sy nodical  has  a  part  on  the  program. 
These  are  found  in  the  Synods  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Texas  and  Arkansas,  while  Florida,  Oklahoma  and  Missouri 
have  interdenominational  schools  in  which  the  Presby- 
terian women  take  a  prominent  part. 


236  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Financial. 

It  is  not  possible  to  secure  an  adequate  report  of  the 
gifts  of  the  women  in  our  organization  because  of  the  vari- 
ous plans  of  giving  which  are  recommended  to  the  societies 
by  their  sessions,  many  societies  sending  all  gifts  directly 
to  the  Church  and  receiving  no  record  of  them.  Even  with 
this  discrepancy,  how^ever,  we  find  that  in  the  first  four 
years  of  the  life  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  the  total  gifts 
to  all  causes  increased  fifty-six  thousand  dollars,  while  the 
increase  in  membership  was  more  than  ten  thousand. 

The  extent  of  the  activities  of  the  Women's  Societies 
and  their  interest  in  the  Lord's  work  may  be  judged  by  the 
fact  that  during  the  year  1916,  they  contributed  for  all 
purposes  the  sum  of  $439,973. 

Our   Young  People  s  Work. 

Realizing  the  great  importance  of  enlisting  the  interest 
of  our  young  girls  in  our  organization  and  of  giving  them  an 
adequate  missionary  education,  each  organization  in  the 
Auxiliary  has  a  Secretary  of  Young  People's  Work,  whose 
business  it  is  to  organize  the  young  people  of  the  church 
into  the  societies  approved  by  our  Assembly  and  to  aid 
them  in  the  conduct  of  these  Societies.  They  are  assisting 
Sunday  school  teachers  to  organize  their  classes,  urging 
the  teaching  of  Missions  in  the  Sunday  school,  aiding  the 
chairman  of  the  missionary  committee  in  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society,  organizing  Camp  Fire  Girls'  Clubs  and 
in  whatever  way  seems  best  bringing  to  the  young  people 
of  the  church  activities  which  will  interest  them  as  well  as 
train  them  for  future  usefulness  in  the  church. 

Our  Rcspo}isibilily. 

The  women  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  stand 
face  to  face  with  the  greatest  opportunity  which  has  ever 
confronted  them.     The  missionary  call  to-day  is  sounding 


The  Hand  of  Woinan  237 

louder  than  ever  before  in  the  histor>'  of  the  world.  Oppor- 
tunities, both  at  home  and  abroad,  are  unjiaralleled.  The 
responsibiUty  for  carrying  on  the  missionary  propaganda 
rests  primarily  to-day  on  America.  Three  great  depart- 
ments of  work  lie  before  us:  First — To  enlist  in  the  Auxiliary 
the  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  women  in  our  South- 
ern Presbyterian  Church  who,  although  Christians  them- 
selves, have  not  caught  the  meaning  of  the  Master's  last 
great  command,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  e\'ery  creature."  Were  these  thousands  of 
women  enrolled  in  missionary  societies  and  giving  in  the 
same  proportion  as  the  members  of  these  same  societies 
are  now  giving,  the  financial  problems  of  the  Church  would 
be  solved.  Second — ^^>  face  the  great  responsibility  for 
more  adequate  missionary  education  on  the  part  of  our 
workers.  The  day  is  past  when  intelligent  workers  are 
willing  to  admit  a  partiality  for  any  one  of  the  arbitrary 
divisions  of  the  great  work  of  Missions.  The  oneness 
of  the  task  is  recognized  by  our  leaders  and  this  broad- 
ness of  vision  must  be  passed  on  until  all  of  the  members  of 
our  local  missionary  societies  look  upon  the  problem  of 
Missions,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  as  one  problem. 
The  greatest  factor  in  hastening  this  understanding  is 
systematic  study  of  the  work  both  at  home  and  abroad 
through  Mission  Study  Classes.  Third — The  third  and 
greatest  need  of  the  women  of  the  Auxiliary  is  a  better 
understanding  of  the  prevailing  power  of  intercessory 
prayer  for  the  Mission  work.  Were  every  member  of  the 
missionary  society  a  believer  in  intercessory  prayer,  the 
power  of  the  mission  work  at  home  and  abroad  would  be 
multiplied  many  times  and  the  needed  men  and  money 
would  be  quickly  forthcoming.  The  first  missionary  com- 
mand of  the  Master  was,  "Pray,  ye,  therefore,  the  Lord 
of  the  harvest";  and  it  has  been  from  that  day  to  this  the 
greatest  need  and  most  important  work  of  the  Christian 
Church. 


XI. 
TRAINING  FOR  SERVICE. 

Through  some  unaccountable  bhndness  on  her  part,  the 
task  that  challenges  the  faith  and  best  efforts  of  the  Church 
escapes  observation.  In  perspective  other  things  more 
l^lausible  magnify  themselves  at  the  expense  of  this  funda- 
mental task  and  dwarf  its  importance.  To  prophets  of 
C.od  endowed  with  spiritual  vision,  and  leaders  of  thought 
and  action,  who  have  "understanding  of  the  times,  to  know 
what  Israel  ought  to  do,"  the  supreme  task  to-day  is  to 
Christia nize  Christendom . 

Throughout  the  ages  this  one  increasing  purpose  should 
increasingly  run.  Nominal  Christianity,  self-satisfied, 
resulted  in  that  unspeakable  European  situation,  which 
to-day  makes  Christianity  a  reproach  and  a  byword  in  the 
mouth  of  heathenism,  and  justifies  its  foes  in  raising  the 
(juery  whether  Christianity  has  broken  down.  The 
parable  of  the  mustard  seed  so  fires  the  mind  of  the  Church 
with  the  idea  of  conspicuous  visible  results  as  to  obscure 
the  parable  of  the  leavening  influence  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Necessity  of  Trained  Leadership. 

During  the  nineteenth  century  the  ideal  of  Home  Mis- 
sion operations  expended  itself  almost  exclusively  in  pioneer 
work  as  the  frontier  enlarged  its  ever-widening  bounds. 
Its  mission  was  extensive — entering  new  territory,  or- 
ganizing new  forces  and  building  new  churches.  The 
twentieth  century  faces  a  new  order  of  Home  Missions. 
It  is  now  not  so  much  extensive  as  it  is  intensive.  The 
old  order  of  things  regarded  Home  Missions  as  a  "field" 
to  be  occupied  and  possessed  by  the  Church,  making  "Our 
Country  God's  Country."  The  new  order  regards  it  as 
a    "force,"    to   be   organized    for   Christ    in    Christianizing 


Training  for  Service  239 

Christendom.  The  Church  must  adapt  herself  to  this  new 
conception  and  become  obsessed  with  this  new  ideal  and 
then  shape  her  policies  to  this  new  purpose.  She  must 
awake  to  the  fact  that  the  frontier  is  no  longer  in  the  dis- 
tant and  developing  West,  Init  everywhere.  Long  rows 
of  tenement  houses  partly  reveal  and  partly  conceal  it. 
Every  foreign  settlement  and  each  suburban  town  is  now 
a  new  frontier.  Many  a  rural  community  in  the  Eastern 
States,  by  emigration,  is  committing  suicide;  and  every 
great  city,  by  immigration,  is  overcrowding — each  pre- 
senting alike  new  and  peculiar  frontier  problems.  Once 
the  country  church  was  the  spiritual  recruiting  force  of 
the  nation.  Now  it  languishes  and  disintegrates  and  be- 
comes an  additional  burden  on  the  Home  Mission  Boards. 
Negroes  with  their  emotional  type  of  religious  life  almost 
devoid  of  any  ethical  basis;  mountaineers,  isolated  and  un- 
touched by  the  stimulating  activities  of  modern  life, 
stagnating  in  hopeless  degeneracy;  mining  towns  and  mill 
populations  utterly  devoid  of  ambition;  lumber  camps 
bitterly  antagonistic  to  the  Church;  cities  with  their 
strenuous  life  unnaturally  stimulated  by  the  commercial 
spirit,  sapping  the  life  of  the  Church  as  the  worldly  over- 
shadows the  spiritual,  are  but  an  incomplete  enumeration 
of  conditions  and  considerations  which  demand  unmis- 
takably a  new  and  trained  leadership  for  the  Home  Mis- 
sion task. 

The  necessity  of  a  trained  Home  Missionary  Force  is 
equally  apparent  from  another  consideration.  The  en- 
thusiasm of  the  intensive  and  extensive  Foreign  Mission 
propaganda  is  filling  the  whole  horizon  of  Christianity 
with  its  impelling  response  to  the  claims  of  the  heathen 
world.  Its  Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  its  rallying 
cry,  "The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  this  Genera- 
tion," awaken  in  the  Christian  heart  all  the  chords  of 
heroism,  philanthropy,  and  Christianity,  and  sweep  our 
most  consecrated  young  men,  eager  to  invest  their  life  to 


240  The  Task  That  Challenges 

the  best  advantage,  into  the  noble  army  of  missionaries, 
attacking  the  strongholds  of  heathenism.  As  a  consequence, 
the  flower  of  our  Christian  homes  is  being  transplanted  to 
blossom  and  yield  fruit  on  heathen  soil. 

The  talented  young  men  of  our  seminaries  and  Chris- 
tian institutions  who  escape  this  alluring  call  for  the  best 
that  Christianity  can  furnish,  are  eagerly  sought  and  in- 
stantly conscripted  by  the  wealthy  churches  and  growing 
fields;  and  even  then  the  demand  far  exceeds  the  supply. 
This  leaves  comparatively  but  few  of  the  best  qualified, 
and  largely  untrained  material  for  aggressive  Home  Mis- 
sion effort.  To  the  thoughtful  the  signs  of  the  times  are 
alarming.  The  churches  of  the  United  States  have  al- 
ways increased  in  membership  faster  than  the  population 
until  quite  recently;  but  the  last  census  rudely  shocked 
us  by  revealing  an  even  break,  population  and  Church 
membership  during  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury gaining  each  21  per  cent.  Will  the  next  decade 
show  the  Church  a  laggard  in  the  race?  If  Home  Missions 
are  the  Life  of  the  Church,  the  Defense  of  the  Nation,  and 
the  Hope  of  the  World,  do  we  not  face  a  startling  situa- 
tion? In  the  mathematics  of  Heaven,  what  shall  it  profit 
the  Kingdom  to  win  Catholic  Brazil  and  lose  Protestant 
North  America?  From  the  standpoint  of  Christianity, 
what  shall  it  profit  the  world  to  gain  heathen  China  and 
lose  Christian  Britain? 

Rev.  J.  D.  Rankin,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  a  Commission 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  to  report  on  Soul  Win- 
ning, has  collected  some  facts  and  figures,  which  may  well 
give  the  Church  pause,  and  awaken  serious  inquiry  as  to 
the  influences  affecting  the  Church  and  modern  life: 

"In  1800  seven  persons  out  of  every  100  were  members 
of  the  church.  In  1850,  fifteen  in  every  hundred;  in  1870, 
seventeen;  in  1880,  twenty;  in  1900,  twenty-four.  Since 
that  time  the  Church  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase 
of  population.     Last  year  our  population  increased  more 


Training  for  Service  241 

than  2  per  cent.,  while  the  membership  of  the  combined 
evangehcal  churches  increased  1  4-5  per  cent. 

"There  seems  to  be  a  crisis  on.  Is  there  a  turn  in  the 
tide?  Is  the  Church  not  a  match  for  our  twentieth  cen- 
tury civiHzation?  Is  she  inadequate  to  the  demands  of 
modern  Hfe?  Are  we  to  witness  the  defeat  of  Christianity? 
Is  the  great  and  blessed  mission  of  the  Christ  to  be  buried 
under  the  stony  soil  of  this  materialistic  age?  *  *  * 
Your  Committee  is  optimistic  in  every  drop  of  its  blood, 
but  it  is  folly  to  ignore  our  danger.  A  Christian  unmoved 
is  a  sentinel  asleep.     '\A'atchman,  what  of  the  night?'  " 

Cha}i;4ing  Conditions  Demand  CJianged  Methods. 

The  Home  missionar>-,  who  once  needed  but  self-denial 
and  willingness  to  endure  the  hardships  of  new  and  pioneer 
settlements,  now  finds  himself  helpless  amid  changed  con- 
ditions and  perplexing  environments.  As  well  resurrect 
the  militia  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  expect  its  an- 
tiquated tactics  to  cope  successfully  with  the  machine 
guns  and  disciplined  soldiery  of  modern  warfare;  as  well 
ask  the  weavers  trained  in  the  handlooms  of  antiquity  to 
contend  with  the  complex  machinery  of  our  million-dollar 
plants;  as  well  require  the  educator  of  the  primitive  gram- 
mar schools  to  match  the  equipment  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury university.  The  Home  missionar}-  of  fifty  years  ago 
would  be  equally  outclassed  and  handicapped  by  the  prob- 
lems of  the  complicated  and  complex  life  of  modern  so- 
ciety. 

These  considerations  raise  the  question  of  methods,  as 
well  as  reinforce  the  necessity  of  a  trained  leadership  for 
Home  Missions.  What  instrumentalities  and  forces  has 
the  Church  created  for  the  demands  of  the  case? 

1 .  Doubtless  nine-tenths  of  our  Home  missionaries  are 
prepared  for  their  life  work  in  the  Schools  of  the  Pro- 
phets; but  theological  seminaries  are  giving  the  Church 
only  a  standard  brand.     Their  one  purpose,   and   rightls' 


242  The  Task  That  Challenges 

so,  is  to  train  ministers  of  the  gospel.  They  have  their  eye 
on  the  churches,  and  are  striving  to  produce  an  article 
that  will  fit  the  average  pulpit.  They  are  not  organized 
and  maintained  to  furnish  "specialists"  for  peculiar  needs. 
Incidentally  they  mould  scholars,  "apologists,"  teachers, 
and  Foreign  missionaries,  largely  perhaps  because  the 
material  itself  gives  direction  to  the  special  product. 
Even  where  the  seminary  seeks  to  "specialize,"  it  labors 
for  other  products  than  Home  missionaries. 

2.  Most  Home  missionaries,  ex  necessitate  rei,  are  edu- 
cated in  the  school  of  experience.  The  Home  missionary 
at  present  best  trained  for  his  specialty  is  the  product 
chiefly  of  his  environment  after  volunteering;  yet  multi- 
tudes are  fighting  a  noble  fight  against  odds,  tremendously 
handicapped  from  lack  of  special  training,  and  without 
the  encouragement  furnished  by  the  recognition  which 
the  Church  accords  its  Foreign  missionaries,  or  even  that 
with  which  a  secular  corporation  rewards  its  laborers. 

3.  Supply  and  demand  are  calling  into  existence  prac- 
tical training  schools,  such  as  the  Bible  Training  School 
of  New  York,  under  the  guiding  hand  of  W.  W.  White, 
and  the  Training  School  at  Richmond,  Va.,  operated  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  our  General  Assembly,  and  enjoying 
the  best  advantages  of  instruction  by  the  able  faculty  of 
Union  Theological  Seminary.  These  are  compelling  the 
classical  and  theological  to  stand  aside  in  favor  of  the  prac- 
tical, and  are  furnishing  trained  workers  whose  lack  of 
literary  preparation  would  forever  have  excluded  them 
from  the  average  theological  seminary.  They  are  also 
giving  to  the  work  trained  women  for  settlement  homes, 
for  the  slums  of  our  congested  cities,  and  for  the  Mission 
schools  of  the  neglected  mountains. 

4.  Two  other  institutions  of  a  slightly  different  type  have 
entered  the  field,  and  are  serving  a  useful  and  noble  pur- 
pose. Bloomfield,  New  Jersey,  and  Dubuque,  Iowa,  were 
founded  and  are  operated  to  educate  and  fit  men  of  foreign 


Training  for  Service  243 

speech  to  minister  to  their  emigrating  countrymen  entering 
our  ports  in  ever  increasing  numbers.  These  immigrants 
afford  unparalleled  opportunities  for  service  to  men  of 
heroic  consecration,  trained  in  modern  scientific  method, 
in  sociology,  philanthropy,  theology,  and  practical  work, 
who  by  birth  and  experience  have  a  sympathetic  acquain- 
tance with  the  life,  habits,  and  traditions  of  their  country- 
men. 

5.  Along  the  same  line,  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  A.,  is  a  pioneer  in  an  ex- 
periment which  gives  great  promise  of  service,  by  estab- 
lishing "Immigrant  Fellowships"  bearing  one  thousand 
dollars  each,  open  to  recent  graduates  of  theological  semi- 
naries, duly  licensed  or  ordained  by  a  Presbytery,  and 
possessing  exceptional  gifts.  "The  Fellowship  contem- 
plates residence  and  study  abroad  in  Austro-Hungary, 
Italy,  and  at  other  sources  of  modern  immigration,  for 
eighteen  months  or  more.  The  appointment  carries  with 
it  a  signed  contract  to  serve  the  Board  of  Home  Missions, 
upon  returning,  at  least  three  years."  Several  young  men 
of  exceptional  ability  have  enjoyed  special  training  in 
Europe,  having  accepted  these  Fellowships,  and  dedicated 
themselves  to  specific  work  among  immigrants,  and  are 
expected  to  infuse  new  life  into  the  leadership  of  the  or- 
ganized forces  to  meet  the  social  and  industrial  problem 
confronting  the  Church. 

In  our  own  Church  the  Executive  Committee  of  Home 
Missions  has  been  pursuing  a  similar  plan  by  enlisting 
volunteers  for  life  service  and  locating  them  in  the  midst 
of  large  foreign  colonies  in  our  own  bounds,  where  they  can 
learn  the  language  and  study  the  economic,  social  and 
religious  condition  of  these  foreigners,  to  whose  spiritual 
welfare  their  entire  life  is  to  be  consecrated  in  sacrificial 
service. 

This  provision  for  trained  workers  applies,  however,  at 
present,  to  only  one  class.     This  beneficent  work  should 


244  The  Task  That  Challenges 

be  enlarged  to  include  the  Negro,  the  slums,  the  frontier, 
and  other  phases  of  the  work. 

Practical  Suggestions. 

1.  Do  not  conditions,  needs,  problems,  etc.,  warrant  the 
enlargement  of  the  typical  theological  school  into  the 
University  of  Theology,  with  the  usual  curriculum  as  a 
common  basis,  but  providing  for  electric  courses,  special- 
izing for  chosen  spheres  of  service?  Instead  of  Bloomfield 
operated  solely  and  separateh'  for  foreign-speaking  stu- 
dents, why  should  it  not  become  a  constituent  part  of 
Princeton,  enlarged  to  include  all  departments  of  Missions, 
thus  encouraging  men  to  volunteer  and  specialize  for  the 
various  phases  of  missionary  service? 

2.  Professorships  might  be  multiplied  and  chairs  be  filled 
by  specialists  to  inspire  and  train  men  for  specific  work. 
Lectureships  for  Home  Missions,  on  a  basis  similar  to  the 
Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  and  the  celebrated  Bampton 
Lectures  of  England,  should  be  founded  and  endowed, 
furnishing  opportunities  for  secretaries,  or  distinguished 
men  with  the  gifts  of  eloquence  and  learning,  to  create 
enthusiasm  for  the  commonplace  as  well  as  the  heroic  and 
sentimental   in   Missions. 

Union  Seminary  at  Richmond,  Va.,  and  Kentucky 
Theological  Seminary  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  have  established 
Lectureships  calculated  to  equip  thoroughly  their  students 
for  the  practical  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  meet  the 
needs  of  this  exacting  age,  and  have  invited  the  most  dis- 
tinguished scholars  to  fill  these  Lectureships;  and  Colum- 
bia Seminary,  S.  C,  recently  employed  Rev.  W.  H.  Mills  to 
discuss  in  a  series  of  lectures  the  subject  of  "The  Country 
Church  and  Rural  Life."  These  are  steps  in  the  right 
direction  and  will  doubtless  crystallize  in  some  permanent 
course  along  the  line  of  practical  Home  Mission  equipment 
for  life  work. 

3.  The   present   plan   of   Fellowships   to  encourage  and 


Training  for  Service  245 

develop  specialists  in  Hebrew  is  preparing  scholars  for 
theological  chairs.  If  the  number  could  be  multiplied, 
and  adapted  to  training  men  for  Home  Missions,  they 
would  serve  the  two-fold  purposes;  not  only  of  developing 
specialists,  but  definitely  committing  men  to  Home  Mis- 
sions as  a  life  work  by  enlisting  their  sympathies  as  the 
result  of  the  wealth  of  information  acquired  on  the  subject. 
The  greatest  difficult)-  is  in  hold  ng  men  in  the  Home 
Mission  Fields.  Foreign  missionaries  volunteer  for  life. 
Too  often  Home  Missions  are  made  simply  "stepping  stones 
to  higher  things,"  as  the  world  estimates  service.  It  would 
serve  to  win  a  place  of  honor  in  the  Church  for  the  Home 
missionary,  whose  heroic  service  and  life  of  sacrifice  receive 
no  proper  appreciation  at  present. 

4.  Perhaps  nothing  would  be  productive  of  better  results 
than  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  rule  requiring  several 
years  of  service  in  Home  Missions  in  return  for  beneficiary 
education.  The  experience  itself  would  furnish  a  training 
which  possibly,  in  many  instances,  would  eventuate  in 
valuable  lives  being  permanently  laid  on  the  altar  of  Home 
Mission  sacrifice  Above  all  other  considerations,  the 
Church  should  agitate  till  it  results  in  a  guarantee  of  such 
compensation  and  recognition  as  will  justify  and  induce 
men  of  splendid  mental  and  spiritual  endowments  in  ever 
increasing  numbers  to  volunteer  for  life  in  this  worthy 
cause. 

It  is  said  by  scientists  that  if  a  new  island  should  emerge 
an>'where  in  the  sea,  it  would  affect  the  temperature  around 
the  entire  globe.  In  life  the  relationships  are  so  interwoven 
that  each  trivial  thing  affects  indirectly  the  whole  of  our 
religious  life  and  thought.  If,  then,  our  Home  mission- 
aries could  be  better  trained  for  their  task,  our  own  land 
would  as  a  consequence  be  more  speedily  and  surely 
Christianized,  and  America  becoming  a  stronger  base  of 
operations,  would  more  swiftly  speed  the  Gospel  "unto  the 
uttermost  part  of   the  earth." 


246  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Qualifications  Required. 

Having  directed  attention  to  the  urgent  necessity  for 
training  leadership,  and  having  discussed  various  methods 
of  securing  practical  results,  it  remains  to  consider  the 
qualifications  and  ideals  demanded  of  the  Home  mission- 
ary. These  must  be  kept  well  in  mind,  both  b>-  the  Church 
in  its  training  schools,  and  by  the  missionary  himself 
who  volunteers  for  service  and  seeks  special  fitness  for  this 
fundamental  sphere  of  Christian  activit\-. 

1.  Supremely  important  is  a  High  Ideal  of  the  Work 
Itself.  The  illustrious  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  led  the 
missionary  forces  of  the  early  church  in  zeal  and  efficiency, 
never  since  surpassed,  not  simply  "in  labors  more  abun- 
dant," but  in  his  estimate  of  his  call,  saying,  "I  magnify 
my  office,"  doubtless  one  explanation  of  his  unapproached 
success.  This  is  the  secret  of  success  in  any  avocation. 
The  Home  missionary  who  would  lay  substantial  and  broad 
foundations  must  be  one  who  preeminently  possesses  such 
high  ideals  of  his  chosen  task  as  to  consider  it  the  one  thing 
above  all  others  worth  while.  No  other  inducement  will 
influence  one  to  choose  deliberately  to  invest  his  life  in  a 
cause  which  requires  the  greatest  sacrifices  of  any  sphere 
of  service,  and  suffer  long-drawn-out  martyrdom,  "endur- 
ing hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."  He  must 
"volunteer  for  the  war"  and  not  for  a  limited  period.  If 
merely  forced  into  the  service  because  of  no  other  opening, 
he  will  be  at  best  only  a  time-server,  using  his  position  for 
self-aggrandizement,  ready  at  the  first  opportunity  to  de- 
sert the  cause.  It  has  been  said  that  "God  despises  a 
quitter."  It  is  largely  a  man's  estimate  of  his  work  which 
determines  his  untiring  perseverance  amid  hardship,  self- 
denials  and  obstacles,  or  makes  him  in  a  cowardly  way 
relinquish  it  at  the  first  indication  of  danger  or  call  for 
heroism.     Is  it  worth  the  cost?     Knowledge  at  this  point 


Training  for  Service  247 

will  enable  anyone  to  forecast  the  result  without  the  aid 
of  prophetic  genius. 

The  halo  of  glory  which  encircles  the  brow  of  the  Foreign 
missionary  is  well  earned,  because  he  cannot  be  allured  to 
a  more  inviting  field.  It  would  be  a  tremendous  sustain- 
ing power  to  the  sorely  tried  and  unrecognized  Home 
missionary  if  the  Church  itself  should  elevate  its  ideals 
of  his  despised  task  and  make  his  work  honorable  among 
men.  Till  then,  it  is  but  common  justice  to  extend  charit>' 
to  the  deserter  who  abandons  a  cause  which  the  Church 
itself  does  not  make  worth  while  either  b>-  compensation 
or  by  honor.  David  Livingston  is  always  canonized  as  the 
highest  type  of  missionary  hero.  Yet  there  are  Home  Mis- 
sion heroes  like  Sheldon  Jackson,  Gideon  Blackburn, 
Daniel  Baker,  David  Brainerd,  Edward  ().  Guerrant, 
W.  J.  B.  Lloyd,  who  have  won  the  applause  of  men  and  the 
recognition  of  the  Church,  because  they  so  magnified 
their  office  as  to  sacrifice  honors  and  rewards,  and  devoted 
their  great  talents  to  a  cause  which  they  adjudged  and 
made  worth  while  by  sacrificial  service. 

2.  An  essential  element  in  the  make-up  of  a  man  is  a 
healthy  optimism.  No  pessimist  ever  won  eminence  in 
war,  in  business,  or  in  religion.  Optimism  is  not  within 
itself  the  guarantee  of  success,  but  is  a  highly  determining 
factor,  a  sine  qua  non.  Discouragement,  in  its  last  analysis, 
is  essentially  a  lack  of  courage,  a  species  of  moral  cowardice. 
It  is  every  man's  most  insidious  enemy,  paralyzing  his 
energies.  The  hopeful  man  is  everywhere,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  successful.  In  business,  let  "unmerciful 
disaster  follow  fast  and  follow  faster,"  and  he  can  ordi- 
narily cope  with  his  difficulties  and  misfortunes  so  long  as 
buoyed  up  by  hope;  but  let  him  once  yield  to  discourage- 
ment, and  the  financial  waves  and  billows  will  overAvhelm 
and  bur>'  him  in  their  flood.  The  discouraged  soldier 
marches  to  certain  defeat,  and  is  whipped  before  a  gun  is 
fired.     In  religion,  God  refuses  to  honor  a  moral  coward. 


Sunday  School  at 

Hell-fer-Sartin, 

In  the  Kentucky 

Cumberlands. 


Dr.   Edward  O.   Guerrant, 

Founder  of  Schools  and 

Churches  in  the  Southern 

Mountain  Region. 


The  future  pride  of 
Breathitt  County, 
Kentucky. 


Tralnnuj  for  Service  249 

Gideon's  band  of  300  Avas  stronger  after  the  confessed 
cowards,  though  32,000  in  number,  had  thrown  down  their 
arms  and  turned  their  backs  to  the  enemy.  Gyps\-  Smith 
says:  "If  God  has  some  gigantic  task  to  l)e  performed, 
faith  gets  the  contract."  If  church  histor>-  teaches  any 
one  great  lesson,  to  which  there  arc  absolutel>'  no  excep- 
tions, it  is  that  the  great  l)attles  of  truth  and  achievement 
have  ever  been  won  by  the  heroes  of  faith. 

It  seems  to  be  the  mission  of  some  to  discourage  others. 
Ten  spies  discouraged  the  hearts  of  Israel's  millions  and 
from  the  very  borders  of  the  promised  land  sent  them  back 
to  die  in  the  wilderness.  If  their  bones  bleaching  upon 
the  sands  of  the  desert  could  have  been  gathered  into  one 
gigantic  heap,  it  would  have  been  a  monument  to  dis- 
couragement, taller  than  any  structure  erected  by  human 
hands.  The  minister  in  the  pulpit,  who  above  all  others 
should  inspire  with  hope  and  faith,  is  frequcntl\-  so  pessi- 
mistic in  his  message  as  to  break  the  spirit  of  God's  people 
and  scatter  them  in  the  wilderness  of  despair  at  the 
very  moment  they  stand  on  the  border  of  noble  achieve- 
ment. The  successful  Home  missionary  must  have  the 
spirit  of  Joshua  and  Caleb,  affirming  in  the  face  of  adverse 
opinion,  "We  are  well  able  to  overcome  it."  All  others 
but  lead  a  forlorn  hope.  The  man  who  cannot  be  dis- 
couraged is  one  who  has  a  firm  hold  on  God,  and  stands  un- 
daunted on  the  promises.  Like  Judson,  who  after  seven 
years  of  failure  in  India,  always  answered  the  inquiry, 
"What  is  the  prospect  for  India?"  by  saying,  "Bright,  sir; 
as  bright  as  the  promises  of  God,"  the  man  who  sees  God 
sees  nothing  else,  neither  obstacle  nor  opposition;  neither 
hindrance  nor  suggestion  of  failure  in  God's  campaign  of 
conquest. 

3.  This  obvioush'  necessitates  and  invokes  the  perse- 
verance of  the  saints,  not  in  the  theological  sense  ot  the 
term,  but  in  practical  experience  of  work.  "Reuben,  thou 
art   my   first  born,   my   might,   and   the  beginning  of  my 


250  The  Task  That  Challenges 

strength,  the  excellency  of  dignity,  and  the  excellency  of 
power:  Unstable  as  water,  thou  shalt  not  excet.''  Millions 
of  fathers  since  Jacob's  day  have  moaned  in  secret  and 
wrung  their  hands  in  agony  over  fond  hopes  blighted 
through  disappointment  in  the  instability  of  their  chil- 
dren. The  bitterest  of  all  is  the  disappointment  of  the 
Church  over  the  failure  of  her  sons,  from  no  lack  of  ability 
but  solely  of  stability.  Tenacity — the  simple  quality  of 
pertinacity — makes  all  the  difference  between  failure  and 
success. 

In  every  great  battle,  it  is  said,  there  is  a  psychological 
moment  when  the  fight  is  lost  or  won.  In  one  of  Stone- 
wall Jackson's  brilliant  campaigns,  he  informs  us  he  had 
actualh'  issued  orders  to  retreat  when  he  observed  the 
enemy  beginning  to  yield.  Rallying  his  forces,  he  sounded 
the  call  to  advance,  and  the  battle  was  won  that  decided 
the  fate  of  the  campaign.  Many  a  Home  Mission  cam- 
paign has  been  lost  because  the  leader  failed,  at  the  psycho- 
logical moment,  where  a  little  perseverance  would  have 
won  the  field  for  Christ.  Restlessness  is  the  bane  of  the 
ministry;  it  is  the  undoing  of  the  grandest  Home  Mission 
prospects. 

In  the  contest  between  the  States,  the  fortune  of  war  had 
steadily  gone  against  the  North  till  the  stoutest  hearts 
grew  faint.  After  another  signal  defeat  the  inquiry  was 
asked,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  what  are  you  going  to  do  next?" 
The  historic  answer  was  returned,  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  "Keep  hammering  away."  Nothing  else  could 
have  subdued  the  South  except  that  "hammering  away" 
of  Lincoln  in  the  Cabinet,  and  of  Grant  on  the  field.  If 
perseverance  does  not  win,  nothing  will.  In  a  great  demon- 
stration office  hangs  a  tremendous  weight.  By  its  side 
is  suspended  an  insignificant  cork.  The  demonstrator 
draws  the  cork  back  and  lets  it  fall  against  the  ponderous 
weight.  The  cork  rebounds,  and  the  iron  is  absolutely  un- 
affected.    Again  and  again  the  experiment  is  repeated,  until 


Train'mg  for  Service  251 

at  length  the  great  weight  slowly  sways  and  at  last  swings 
back  and  forth,  an  illustration  of  the  power  of  persevering 
effort.  If  the  Church  could  but  secure  volunteers  for  Home 
Mission  fields,  willing  to  expend  their  lives  in  continuous 
effort,  it  would  be  a  demonstration  of  "faith  removing 
mountains"  in  the  spiritual  realm.  God  is  as  powerful 
to-day  as  of  old,  and  is  as  willing  here  as  elsewhere,  but  he 
must  needs  wait  for  men  of  faith  and  perseverance. 

4.  "Add  to  your  faith" — optimism,  courage  and  perse- 
verance, but  the  great  element  of  success  is  enthusiasm. 
There  is  no  age  limit,  no  "dead  line"  in  the  ministry',  ex- 
cept the  loss  of  youthful  enthusiasm.  Unfortunateh- 
youth  itself  sometimes  lacks  this  "one  thing  needful," 
without  which  many  other  splendid  gifts  are  hollow  mock- 
eries. Spurgeon  once  related  a  dream  in  which  he  visited 
a  church  and  saw  dead  men  in  the  pews  and  dead  men  in 
officers'  places,  and  worst  of  all  a  dead  man  in  the  pulpit. 
The  latter  is  a  sufficient  explanation.  The  contagion  of 
death  in  the  pulpit  will  contaminate  everything  else. 
George  Whitefield,  Daniel  Baker,  Dwight  L.  Moody,  and 
others  who  have  attained  the  greatest  success,  were  men 
who  invariably  made  the  impression  that  they  were  fear- 
fully in  earnest.  The  world  will  excuse  almost  anything 
except  half-heartedness.  Blood  earnestness  is  one  secret 
of  most  men's  preeminent  success. 

5.  If  anything  else  is  worthy  of  mention,  it  is  activity. 
"Be  instant  in  season,  out  of  season."  Closelv'  akin  to 
earnestness  is  untiring  toil.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is 
earnestness  in  action.  Someone  has  defined  genius  as  the 
capacity  for  unlimited  hard  work.  Men  with  five  talents 
wrapped  carefully  in  the  napkin  of  sloth  will  bury  them- 
selves forever  in  the  grave  of  obscurity,  while  the  owner  of 
one  talent,  if  it  be  kept  in  perpetual  motion,  will  win  the 
highest  encomium  of  the  Master,  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant." 


252  The  Task  That  Challenges 

"Time  worketh;  let  me  work,  too. 
Time  undoeth;  let  me  do. 
Busy  as  time,  my  work  I  ply 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

"Sin  worketh;  let  me  work,  too. 
Sin  undoeth;  let  me  do. 
Busy  as  sin,  my  work  I  ply 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

"God  worketh;  let  me  work,  too. 
God  doeth;  let  me  do. 
Busy  for  God,  my  work  I  ply 
Till  I  rest  in  the  life  of  eternity." 

The  Home  Mission  fields  are  white  to  the  harvest.  The 
greatest  need  is  men,  trained  for  service,  "workmen  that 
need  not  to  be  ashamed";  but  above  all  things,  men  en- 
dowed with  the  qualities  of  faith,  perseverance  and  zeal 
for  soul-winning;  and  "the  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  shall  be  glad  for  them;  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice, 
and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

"It  shall  blossom  abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy 
and  singing;  the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it, 
the  excellency  of  Carmel  and  Sharon;  they  shall  see  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  excellency  of  our  God. 

"Strengthen  ye  the  weak  hands,  and  confirm  the  feeble 
knees." 

"Say  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart.  Be  strong, 
fear  not:  behold,  your  God  will  come  with  vengeance,  even 
God  with  a  recompense;  he  will  come  and  save  you. 

"Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened,  and  the 
ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped. 

"Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue 
of  the  dumb  sing:  for  in  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break 
out,  and  streams  in  the  desert." 


XII. 
THE  CALL  TO  SERVICE. 

"Also  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  saying,  Whom  shall  I  send,  and 
who  will  go  for  us.  Then  said  I,  Here  am  I;  send  me."— T/!<?  Gospel  of 
Isaiah. 

Isaiah  was  the  evangelist  of  the  Old  Testament.     His 
"Prophecy"   might  with  equal  propriety  be  termed   "the 
Gospel,  according  to  Isaiah."     Without  any  impropriety, 
whole  sections  of  it  might  be  transferred  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  they  would  not  be  out  of  place  in  their  new 
setting.     In  its  very  opening  chapter  is  sounded  the  key- 
note of  the  Gospel:  "Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together, 
saith  the  Lord:  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall 
be  as  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they 
shall  be  as  wool."     The  famous  53rd  chapter  might  have 
been  written  by  John,  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  cross: 
"Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows: 
yet   we   did    esteem    him   stricken,     smitten    of   God    and 
afflicted.     But   he  was  wounded    for    our   transgressions, 
he  was  bruised  for  our   iniquities;  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  him;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed." 
In  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  Jesus  to  his  fellow  towns- 
men proclaimed  the  purpose  and  scope  of  his  mission,  m 
terms  of  Isaiah:  "The    Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  be- 
cause he  hath    anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor;   He  hath   sent   me   to  heal   the  broken   hearted;   to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  the  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised; 
to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

The  New  Testament  opens  with  its  initial  command: 
"Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  But 
Isaiah  had  said  substantially  the  same  thing  seven  hundred 


254  The  Task  That  Challenges 

years  before:  "Let  the  wxked  forsake  his  way  and  the 
unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto 
the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him ;  and  to  our  God. 
for  he  will  abundantly  pardon."  In  the  last  chapter  of 
the  New  Testament,  just  as  John,  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
Apost'es,  was  in  the  act  of  closing  the  canon  of  Scripture, 
Christ  on  the  throne  stays  his  hand  a  moment,  in  order 
to  extend  from  Heaven  his  last,  the  most  comprehensive 
invitation  of  the  Gospel:  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride 
say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And 
let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  Yet  Isaiah,  eight 
hundred  years  before,  had  said  substantially  the  same 
thing:  "Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters;  and  he  that  hath  no  money;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat; 
yea  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without 
price."  Has  the  Church  even  t()-da>'  a  clearer  evangelistic 
note? 

The  Call  of  Isaiah. 

In  the  sixth  chapter,  Isaiah  records  his  call  to  the  pro- 
phetic office,  consisting  of  a  series  of  supernatural  visions. 
The  first  was  a  vision  of  God:  "I  saw  also  the  Lord  sitting 
upon  a  throne  high  and  lifted  up  *  *  *  Above  it 
stood  the  seraphim  *  *  *  And  one  cried  unto  another 
and  said.  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts:  the  whole 
earth  is  full  of  his  glory."  This  is  followed  by  a  vision  of 
self:  "Then  said  I,  Woe  is  me!  for  I  am  undone;  because 
I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips  *  *  *  j-^j-  ^lij^g  eyes  have 
seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  This  prepares  the  way 
for  a  \ision  of  Grace:  "Then  flew  one  of  the  seraphim 
unto  me,  having  a  live  coal  *  *  *  jiud  said,  Lo  this 
hath  touched  thy  lips;  and  thine  'niquit\-  is  taken  away 
and  thy  sin  purged."  The  climax  is  reached  in  a  vision  of 
duty:  "Also  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  saying.  Whom 
shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  us?     Then  said  I,  here  am 


The  Call  to  Service  255 

I;  send  me."  These  visions  occur  in  a  perfectly  natural 
and  logical  order.  A  vis'on  of  God's  holiness  leads  always 
to  a  sense  of  our  unworthiness,  which  prepares  the  way  for 
the  application  of  divine  grace;  and  the  three  focus  upon  a 
vision  of  duty. 

The  Modem  Call  to  Service. 

The  ca'l  of  God  to  serv  ce  is  the  same  in  all  ages.  It 
matters  not  whether  i~  was  the  call  of  Isaiah  to  the  pro- 
phetic office  two  thousand,  six  hundred  years  ago,  or 
whether  t  is  a  call  to  the  ministry  in  this  twentieth 
century.  It  matters  not  whether  the  ca'l  comes  from 
heathen  China  or  is  a  Macedonian  cry  from  the  heart  of  the 
Appalachian  Mountains.  It  matters  not  whether  it  is  a 
call  to  s  and  in  the  pulpit  and  herald  the  glad  tidings,  or 
whether  it  is  a  call  to  serve  as  a  lay  worker  in  some  humble 
sphere  of  service.  It  matters  not  whether  heard  in  an 
audible  voice  from  Heaven,  or  in  the  "still  small  voice"  in 
the  human  soul;  the  call  is  the  same,  "Whom  shall  I  send; 
and  who  will  go  for  us?"  And  the  response  of  the  volun- 
teer is  the  same:  "Here  am  I;  send  me." 

God  is  still  calling,  by  divine  providence,  by  His  inspired 
Word  and  by  His  Holy  Spirit.  Conspiring  together,  they 
constitute  the  elements  which  enter  into  the  modern  call. 
On'y  those  with  sp  ritual  ears  hear  and  recognize  the  voice 
of  God,  though  He  speaks  today  in  three  different  wa>'s: 

1.  Opportunity  Beckons. 

The  very  analysis  of  the  word  opportunity  is  signifi- 
cant, being  derived  from  two  Latin  terms,  "ob,"  equivalent 
to  "at,"  "before"  or  "over  against,"  and  "portus,"  the 
"gate."  Opportunity,  therefore,  is  whatsoever  stands 
before  our  door  challenging  attention,  or  which  confronts 
us  in  our  path,  demanding  the  hearing  of  its  claims.  The 
call  of  opportunity  is  as  truly  the  call  of  God  as  if  uttered 
in   an    audible   voice    from    Heaven.     Where   opportunity 


256  The  Task  That  Challenges 

speaks  emphatically,  God  speaks  authoritatively.  Ordi- 
narily it  carries  with  it  the  suggestion  of  compensation  as 
well  as  obligation.  In  the  business  world,  opportunity 
is  an  investment  which  promises  large  dividends.  In  the 
religious  realm,  it  is  a  challenge  that  suggests  "fields  white 
unto  the  harvest,"  which  promises  the  reward  of  golden 
sheaves.  Always  and  everywhere,  opportunity  contains 
within  itself  the  inherent  thought  of  obligation,  with  its 
alt  rnative  of  rewards  or  punishments. 

In  the  Home  Mission  Sphere. 

The  first  suggestion,  as  a  representative  of  the  organized 
Home  Mission  Agency  of  the  Church,  to  the  call  of  oppor- 
tunity is  along  the  line  of  denominational  advantage.  The 
effort  has  been  made  to  interpret  the  calls  of  divine  provi- 
dence and  to  give  to  each  opportunity  a  voice: 

Wide  open  doors  challenge  the  Church,  inviting  entrance 
with  the  promise  of  rich  rewards,  the  indirect  advancement 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  by  means  of  specific  and  im- 
mediate denominational   gains. 

By  Way  of  Illusli-ation. 

Illustrations  are  hereby  cited  from  the  sphere  of  Home 
Missions,  to  substantiate  and  enforce  the  premise  that 
opportunity  is  the  call  of  God,  which  carries  with  it  the 
inherent  suggestion  of  compensation.  Only  a  few  years 
ago  Southwestern  Oklahoma,  just  being  opened  to  white 
settlers  and  rapidly  developing  in  economic  and  social 
wealth,  contained  no  official  representative  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  U.  S.  The  case  was  laid  before  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Society-  of  the  Central  Presbyterian 
church,  Atlanta,  C^a.,  which  offered  to  furnish  the  salar\- 
for  employing  an  evangelist.  Rev.  H.  S.  Davidson  was 
engaged  for  this  work,  and  the  first  result  was  the  organ- 
ization of  a  church  at  Mangum,  with  17  members.     As  the 


The  Call  to  Service  257' 

outcome  of  entering  this  door  of  opportunit>-,  the  Presby- 
tery of  Mangum  sprang  into  existence,  so  named,  not  in 
honor  of  the  largest  city  within  its  bounds,  but  of  the  first 
church  organized.  Its  last  report  indicates  that  this  Pres- 
bvtery  now  contains  12  ministers,  25  churches,  1,300  com- 
municants, and  contributed  in  one  year  over  $15,000.  Was 
this  opportunity  the  call  of  God,  judged  by  the  manifest 
favor  of  "The  Lord  of  the  Harvest?"  Was  there  ever  in- 
vestment rewarded  with  richer  financial  and  spiritual 
dividends? 

The  Argument  Reenforced. 

In  Southwest  Texas,  along  the  Rio  Grande  River,  land 
which  had  never  produced  anything  except  mesquite 
bushes  and  sage  brush,  could  have  been  bought  by  the 
county  at  one  dollar  per  acre.  At  length  came  irrigation, 
and  the  same  land  sold  readily  at  from  v$]00  to  $200  per 
acre,  and  often  paid  for  itself  the  first  season  in  truck  farm- 
ing. Then  followed  railroads  and  prosperous  towns,  as 
population  poured  in.  In  all  that  splendid  section,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  was  not  represented  until  Rev. 
Samuel  McPheeters  Glasgow,  of  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Virginia,  heard  the  call  of  God,  and  answered,  "Here 
am  I;  send  me."  In  an  incredibh'  short  time  he  had  or- 
ganized and  built  churches  at  Mission,  McAllen,  Mercedes, 
Donna,  Harlingen  and  San  Benito,  which  further  resulted 
in  the  building  of  mission  chapels  for  the  Mexicans  in  the 
same  region.  Rev.  M.  W.  Doggett,  the  efficient  and  faith- 
ful evangelist,  organized  in  the  same  general  section  fifteen 
churches  in  fifteen  months.  The  development  of  the  work 
is  limited  onl>'  by  the  ability  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  Home  Missions  to  furnish  men  and  means  proportionate 
to  the  opportunity.  These  churches  will  be  a  tremendous 
factor  in  the  near  future  for  propagating  the  faith  in  con- 
tiguous territory,  and  their  influence  will  ultimateh'  ex- 
tend unto  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth. 


258  The  Task  That  Challenges 


Our  "Farthest  West" 
Home  Missionary, 
Rev.  L.  O.  Cunningham, 
and  Family. 


'I'he  Manse  at  l^ovinftton,  New  Mexico,  built  principally  by  his  own  labor. 


The  Call  to  Service  259 


At  Random. 


Illustrations  abound  everywhere  and  press  their  claims  for 
recognition.  Among  the  neglected  millions  of  the  Appala- 
chian mountains,  are  communities  "far  from  the  world's 
madding  strife,"  ready  to  prove  the  contention — Hazard, 
Ky.,  for  example.  In  this  mountain  village,  far  from  rail- 
road and  modern  conveniences  of  civilization,  was  gathered 
the  nucleus  of  a  small  Presbyterian  church.  Unable  to 
secure  a  minister,  with  the  inadequate  means  at  its  com- 
mand, the  Home  Mission  Committee  at  Atlanta  sent  a 
woman,  Miss  Adams,  to  represent  Christ  and  His  love. 
She  kept  alive  the  Sabbath  school,  stimulated  the  Woman's 
Society-,  and  acted  as  Bible  woman  and  spiritual  guide  for 
months.  Finally  the  railroad  penetrated  this  mountain 
fastness,  the  church  grew,  and  a  pastor  was  secured. 
Afterward,  in  services  lasting  one  week,  conducted  by  Rev. 
J.  A.  Bryan  of  Birmingham,  Ala.,  there  were  fifty-nine 
additions  to  the  church,  which  is  now  practically  self- 
supporting.  The  story  of  Highland  School,  at  Guerrant, 
Ky.;  Beechwood  Seminary,  at  Heidelberg,  Ky.,and  Stuart 
Robinson  School,  at  Blackey,  Ky.,  are  additional  illustra- 
tions of  opportunities  that  voiced  the  call  of  God  and  richly 
rewarded    effort    and    expenditure. 

Opportunities  Past  and  Passing. 

Among  the  multitudes  of  opportunities  which  have  been 
calling  insistently  and  persistently,  only  a  few  compara- 
tively could  be  seized.  Many  which  once  called  loudly  are 
gone  forever.  They  will  never  come  again.  Their  voice 
is  now  only  a  memory,  and  a  part  of  the  silent  and  irre- 
parable past.  Men  tell  us  that  during  the  night  following 
a  sanguinary  battle,  cries  of  anguish  are  heard,  piteously 
calling  for  water  or  relief  from  pain;  and  then,  with  the 
passing  hours,  one  by  one  these  voices  are  hushed  by  death. 
The  next  day  an  ominous  silence  prevails,  where  but  lately 


260  TJie  Task  That  Challenges 

these  opportunities  to  relieve  suffering  called  so  appealingly. 
They  are  but  typical  of  urgent  Home  Mission  calls  that 
will  never  again  be  heard.  They  are  only  the  ghosts  of  a 
dead  past,  which  are  still  left  to  haunt  us. 

Other  opportunities  more  numerous  and  even  greater 
perhaps,  have  arisen  in  their  stead,  and  are  today  the  new 
voice  of  God  in  human  events,  urging  the  Church  to  know 
its  day  of  opportunity,  "Saying,  If  thou  hadst  known, 
even  thou,  at  least  in  this  th\'  day   *   *  ." 

Specimens. 

Katherine  M.  Barton  in  graphic  language  describes  the 
greatest  irrigation  enterprise  in  the  world: 

"One  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north  of  El  Paso, 
guarding  the  entrance  to  a  series  of  rock-walled  canons  and 
gorges  of  the  Rio  Grande,  stands  an  extinct  volcano,  Ele- 
phant Butte  by  name.  Elephant  Butte  is  today  looking 
down  on  a  bit  of  constructive  work  at  his  feet,  which  has 
plugged  up  the  river  and  changed  him  from  a  mountain 
to  an  island.  This  piece  of  masonry  is  known  as  Elephant 
Butte  Dam,  and  has  created  the  biggest  made-to-order 
water  factory  in  the  world,  impounding  more  water  than 
the  great  Roosevelt  and  Assouan  Dams  combined. 

"The  Elephant  Butte  is  about  four  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  though  for  the  most  part  unproductive,  this 
desert  condition  is  due  solely  to  the  lack  of  adequate  irri- 
gation facilities.  In  reality  there  is  no  corner  of  the  earth 
potentially  richer  than  the  Rincon,  Mesilla,  Las  Palomas 
and  El  Paso  valleys. 

"In  1904  the  National  Irrigation  Congress  held  a  session 
in  El  Paso.  At  this  meeting  a  plan  was  projected  for  con- 
structing across  the  Rio  Grande  a  concrete  dam.  Elephant 
Butte  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  operations.  Seven  million 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  estimated  as  the  total 
cost.  It  was  necessary  to  go  down  eighty-five  to  one  hun- 
dred feet  before  a  sure  foundation  could  be  obtained  for 


The  Call  to  Service  261 

the  ponderous  wall  of  masonry,  which  now  rises  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  above  low  water.  This,  the  largest 
irrigation  dam  in  the  world,  is  twelve  hundred  feet  long; 
the  roadway  on  top  is  eighteen  feet  wide,  while  the  maxi- 
mum width  at  the  base  is  twelve  times  as  great. 

"The  reservoir  behind  this  wall  is  forty-five  miles  long 
and  has  a  shore  line  of  two  hundred  miles.  The  storing  of 
water  began  in  February,  1915,  and  this  artificial  lake, 
now  full,  contains  over  eight  hundred  and  sixty  billion 
gallons,  enough  water  to  cover  the  state  of  Massachusetts 
to  a  depth  of  six  inches;  or  again,  enough  to  fill  seven  pipes 
four  feet  in  diameter,  reaching  from  the  mountain  island 
of  Elephant  Butte  to  the  moon. 

"It  will  irrigate  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  acres 
of  arable  land,  mostly  in  New  Mexico  and  Texas,  thereby 
increasing  the  present  value  of  these  farming  lands  two 
and  four-fold,  and  when  planted  in  bearing  orchards,  as 
high  as  ten  and  twelve  fold;  and  will  convert  the  rainless 
Elephant  Butte  country-  into  the  most  productive  valley 
in  all  the  world." 

A  minister  voluntarily  traveled  all  the  wa>'  from  Ala- 
bama to  Atlanta  to  tell  of  the  populations  pouring  into  that 
region  and  to  sound  the  call  of  opportunity  in  the  ears  of 
the  Home  Mission  Secretary.  Though  the  latter  has  been 
re-echoing  the  call  in  the  ears  of  the  Church,  it  is  seemingly 
deaf  to  the  appeal;  and  this  opportunity  is  still  calling. 

In  the  conservative  old  commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
where  the  James  and  Appomattox  Rivers  unite,  ten  miles 
from  Petersburg,  there  sprang  into  existence  recently  the 
largest  city  in  the  shortest  space  of  time  ever  known,  even 
in  our  magic  land  of  wonders.  Within  a  few  months  it 
grew  to  30,000  people,  comprising  in  its  cosmopolitan 
citizenship  a  dozen  nationalities.  The  magnitude  of  this 
Home  Mission  opportunity  temporarily  paralyzed  the 
Church  in  its  unpreparedness.  Daily  services  were  held 
in  a  cheap,  hastily-constructed  tabernacle,  and  there  were 


262;:  The  Task  Thai  Challenges 

marvelous  results,  among  others  the  organization  of  a 
Russian  Presbyterian  church.  In  all  probabilits'  these 
prospects  will  be  dissipated  owing  to  lack  of  means  to  con- 
serve results  and  solidify  them  into  something  large  and 
permanent.  Will  the  Church  hear  the  voice  of  God  calling 
in  this  opportunity? 

Recently  a  delegation  from  the  S\  nod  of  West  Virginia, 
officially  commissioned,  appeared  before  the  Assembly's 
Home  Mission  Committee  and  startled  it  with  the  call  of 
opportunity  from  that  mountain  state,  rich  in  resources 
and  buoyant  with  hope.  The  call  of  God  voiced  by  these 
representatives  of  this  young  and  vigorous  Synod  bases  its 
appeal  upon  three  facts:  (1)  Of  the  total  population  of 
West  Virginia,  three-fourths  are  not  identified  with  any 
branch  of  the  Church;  (2)  Larger  gains  in  additions  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  for  the  money  invested,  than  in  any 
other  Synod  of  the  South;  (3)  More  unsaved  people  to  the 
square  mile  in  West  Virginia  than  in  the  whole  continent 
of  Africa!  The  Committee  of  Home  Missions,  being  at  the 
limit  of  its  resources,  could  only  timidly  promise  adequate 
response,  provided  the  Church  authorizes  it  by  hearing 
this  call  of  God  in  the  opportunity  that  challenges. 

Listen  to  the  warning  voice  of  Opportunity,  that  speaks: 

"Master  of  human  destinies  am  I, 

Fame,  love  and  fortune  on  my  footsteps  wait, 

Cities  and  fields  I  walk,  I  penetrate 
Deserts  and  seas  remote,  and  passing  by 

Hovel  and  mart  and  palace,  soon  or  late 

I  knock  unbidden  once  at  every  gate! 
If  sleeping,  wake;  if  feasting,  rise  before 

I  turn  away.     It  is  the  hour  of  fate. 

And  they  who  follow  me  reach  every  state 

Mortals  desire,  and  conquer  every  foe 
Save  death;  but  those  who  doubt  or  hesitate. 

Condemned  to  failure,  penury  and  woe, 
Seek  me  in  vain,  and  uselessly  implore — 
I  answer  not,  and  I  return  no  more!'' 


The  Call  to  Service  263 

2.  Human  Need  Appeals. 

The  cry  of  human  need  is  the  voice  of  God  calHng  to 
service.  It  is  just  the  opposite  of  opportunity,  for  it 
promises  no  speedy  compensation.  This  new  sphere  of 
Home  Missions  counts  no  cost.  It  expects  no  substantial 
tangible  results.  It  demands  no  visible  rewards.  It  is 
exactly  the  opposite  of  the  commercial  spirit  of  investment 
and  dividend.  It  asks  loving  sacrificial  service  in  response, 
to  the  Macedonian  cry  for  help.  It  is  the  "New  Home 
Missions";  or  as  styled  by  Warren  H.  Wilson,  "The  Second 
Missionary  Adventure,"  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment being  regarded  as  the  first. 

The  Macedonian  Cry. 

In  all  ages  this  "Man  of  Macedonia"  has  stood  as  typical 
of  a  call  to  minister  to  human  need.  Do  we  appreciate 
the  significance  of  the  fact  that  it  was  a  "vision"  of  need  as 
seen  by  the  apostle,  and  not  the  conscious  and  personal 
appeal  of  the  needy  themselves?  The  man  of  Macedonia 
was  not  a  real  person  of  flesh  and  blood,  but  a  fantasy 
of  the  Apostle's  mind  taking  the  concrete  form  of  need. 
The  Apostle  soon  discovered  the  difference,  to  his  infinite 
sorrow.  The  "vision"  representing  lost  souls  was  a  mute 
appeal,  impersonal  to  the  last  degree.  The  Macedonian 
people  themselves,  repudiated  the  ministrations  of  the 
Apostle,  and  instead  of  a  generous  reception,  gave  Paul 
"stripes  and  imprisonment."  The  vision  was  an  altruistic 
conception  of  the  unrecognized  spiritual  needs  of  the  people 
who  consciously  refused  to  acknowledge  their  own  needs. 

The  Cry,   Whence  It  Comes. 

The  wail  of  a  castaway  babe  among  the  bulrushes  of  the 
Nile  touched  the  heart  of  Pharaoh's  daughter;  and  shall 
the  cry  of  destitution  make  a  less  potent  appeal  to  the 
Church    of    Christ   than   to   the   sympathy   of   a   heathen 


264  The  Task  That  Challenges 

princess?  If  we  had  spiritual  vision,  delicate  and  sensitive, 
we  could  see  the  man  of  Macedonia  beckoning.  If  we 
had  "ears  to  hear"  we  could  interpret  the  cry  of  the  desti- 
tute, even  though  it  be  "dumb  with  silence." 

As  the  million  immigrants  annually  push  their  way  among 
us,  even  though  each  man  cried  in  his  native  tongue  more 
appealingly  than  the  man  of  Macedonia,  it  would  neverthe- 
less be  utterly  meaningless  to  us,  being  uttered  in  an  un- 
known tongue.  Yet  their  sad  countenances  speak  louder 
than  words;  and  their  wretched  environment  is  a  pathetic 
appeal,  though  mute,  more  touching  than  spoken  language, 
as  these  "strangers  in  a  strange  land,"  with  no  medium  of 
communication  and  no  avenue  of  approach  for  Gospel 
light,  helpless  and  lonely,  in  destitution  and  despair, 
seemingly  lodge  their  complaint  against  Christendom, 
"No  man  careth  for  our  soul." 

Immigrants  But  Not  Emigrants. 

Most  pathetic  is  the  cry  of  need  that  comes  from  the 
wretched  destitution  of  those  who  are  immigrants  Init  not 
emigrants.  They  are  immigrants  because  they  come  from 
benighted  Africa;  but  they  are  not  emigrants,  because 
they  did  not  voluntarily  forsake  their  fatherland.  "Like 
dumb  driven  cattle,"  bought  or  stolen,  they  were  trans- 
ported to  America  in  slave  ships;  and  their  children  and 
children's  children  have  ever  since  been  "hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water."  In  the  midst  of  Gospel  privileges, 
many  are  as  "far  from  the  kingdom  of  God"  as  their 
brethren  in  the  heart  of  the  Dark  Continent.  The  favored 
few  enjoy  the  services  of  a  native  ministr)-  which  will 
compare  favorably  with  the  average  of  any  people  or  race; 
but  the  vast  multitude  are  at  the  tender  mercies  of  "blind 
leaders  of  the  blind,"  exploited  and  fleeced  by  immoral 
shepherds,  or  else  passed  by  in  utter  neglect.  Their  cruel 
wrongs,  their  silent  sufferings,  their  neglected  claims, 
unite  in  a  mute  appeal:  "Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that 


The  Call  to  Service  265 

pass  b\"?  Behold  and  see  if  there  be  an\-  sorrow  hke  unto 
my  sorrow,  which  is  done  unto  me,  wherewith  the  Lord 
hath  affhcted  me  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger." 

The  Cry  of  the  Mountains . 

This  is  just  the  opposite  of  the  immigrant.  The  moun- 
taineer is  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon  in  America,  descendant 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  and  Covenanter,  kept  pure  by  his  isola- 
tion, which  is  also  the  cause  of  his  destitution.  The  Mis- 
sion at  the  mouth  of  the  Canoe  Creek  on  Kentucky  River 
must  suffice  to  serve  as  an  illustration  of  need  in  the 
Appalachian  Mountains.  Its  history  reads  like  a  romance, 
and  is  stranger  than  fiction.  Some  years  ago  it  was 
famous  for  its  fighting,  its  rowdyism,  and  was  the  home  of 
the  feudists.  Two  brothers  had  built  rival  stores  on  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  road,  and  were  threatening  to  kill  each 
other.  To  save  bloodshed,  as  well  as  to  start  a  needed 
work  of  grace.  Dr.  Guerrant  bought  one  of  these  stores 
and  turned  it  into  a  Mission,  thanks  to  the  liberality  of  an 
Atlanta  woman.  Over  the  door  to-day  the  traveler  reads 
"Brooks  Memorial  Institute." 

Some  time  ago  Rev.  \V.  E.  Hudson  conducted  a  meeting 
here,  which  was  void  of  results  up  to  the  last  day.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  last  service,  a  terrible  row  was  started  by 
drunken  men  at  the  church  door.  The  whole  congrega- 
tion rushed  out,  .but  finally  quiet  was  restored.  After 
much  persuasion  the  men  were  induced  to  come  in  to  the 
service.  Miss  Bratton,  our  missionary,  sat  in  the  rear 
among  them,  to  prevent  a  disturbance.  The  Spirit  of  God 
mightily  touched  the  hearts  of  the  audience.  One  of  the 
ringleaders  went  forward  and  professed  conversion,  and  as 
the  result  sixteen  young  people  joined  the  church.  They 
formed  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  and  now  these  young 
men  lead  in  i:)ublic  prayer.  There  is  a  waiting  list  at  this 
place  of  forty-one  professing  Christians,  ready  for  organiza- 
tion as  soon  as  the  Presbytery  deems  it  advisable.     At  one 


266  The  Task  That  Challenges 

time  there  were  three  barrooms  within  sight  of  our  Mis- 
sion, one  in  the  United  States  post  office.  Now  they  are 
all  closed.  One  morning  there  was  nailed  up  near  the  mis- 
sion a  sign  which  had  twenty-four  signatures,  stating  that 
whiskey  and  gambling  would  no  longer  be  tolerated;  and 
this  did  the  work! 

Our  two  women  missionaries  at  this  place  also  conduct 
a  Sabbath  school  in  the  afternoon  three  miles  away,  and 
they  are  called  upon  by  the  community  for  every  kind  of 
loving  service.  On  one  occasion  they  nursed  a  typhoid 
fever  patient  night  and  day  till  she  recovered.  One  nursed 
the  other  through  smallpox,  and  believes  that  she  was 
immune  in  answer  to  prayer.  One  family  sent  for  them 
to  pull  the  teeth  of  a  suffering  child,  another  man  insisted 
upon  their  doctoring  the  sore  foot  of  his  mule,  and  rewarded 
them  in  apples  for  their  successful  cure. 

Drs.  Tyler,  Superintendent,  and  Morris,  Secretary, 
making  an  official  visit  to  this  Mission,  agreed  it  was  worth 
the  long,  fatiguing  ride  to  see  these  happy  women,  and  to 
see  twelve  young  men  stand  up  at  the  night  service  as  a 
choir  and  lead  the  congregational  singing,  and  also  render 
a  voluntary.  These  missionaries  are  teaching  by  day, 
walking  in  the  afternoons  all  over  that  section,  ministering 
to  the  sick,  and  praying  with  the  people.  Some  day  a 
great  stream  of  mountain  boys  will  pour  into  our  theologi- 
cal seminaries  and  fill  our  pulpits,  as  the  result  of  such 
pioneer  work  now  being  done  by  these  consecrated  teachers, 
and  scores  like  them. 

Our  Emigrating  Children. 

Leaving  ancestral  abodes  to  make  for  themselves  new 
homes  on  the  expanding  frontier  in  untried  environments, 
severing  church  relationships  which  cannot  be  easily  or 
entirely  duplicated,  a  million  move  out  annually  from  the 
eastern  slopes  of  the  Atlantic  into  the  great  Southwest, 
actuated  chiefly  by  a  purpose  to  retrieve  broken  fortunes, 


The  Call  to  Service  267 

or  to  get  rich  quick  by  means  of  promising  business  ven- 
tures. Dominated  so  completely  by  the  commercial 
spirit  of  the  age  and  the  reckless  abandon  of  the  uncon- 
ventional frontier,  they  are  conscious  of  no  spiritual  need. 
Is  the  Church  to  become  as  deaf  to  the  appeal  of  their 
desperate  condition,  and  as  blind  to  their  danger,  as  they 
themsehes  are  indifferent  to  their  spiritual  degeneration? 

J.  Humanity' s   Commanding  Call. 

The  claims  of  humanity  are  the  imperative  call  of  God 
to  service.  This  is  not  entirely  synonymous  with  the  ap- 
peal of  human  need.  The  latter  is  individualistic,  and 
limited  by  class  or  condition.  The  call  of  humanity  is 
unlimited  by  time,  circumstances,  geography,  race  or 
nationality.  It  is  as  wide  as  the  world,  as  extensive  as 
the  race,  as  eternal  as  the  generations  of  mankind  yet  un- 
born. Ministering  to  need  is  benevolent;  responding  to 
the  claims  of  humanity  is  altruistic,  while  its  plea  is  en- 
forced primarily  for  the  sake  of  the  individual,  it  is  ulti- 
mately for  the  broader  and  more  compelling  cause  of  man. 
Its  nation-wide  slogan  is:  "Save  America  primarily  for 
America's  sake,  but  ultimately  for  the  world's  sake." 

At  the  time  the  German  submarine  warfare  claimed  its 
victims,  not  solely  from  the  ranks  of  armed  soldiers,  but 
of  innocent  babes,  defenceless  women  and  inoffensive 
neutrals,  Woodrow  Wilson,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  delivered  his  ultimatum,  not  simply  in  the  interest 
of  the  comparatively  few  individuals  affected,  but  for  a  far 
more  wide-reaching  purpose,  as  he  demanded:  "This 
outrage  must  stop  for  humanity's  sake."  It  was  the  grow- 
ing spirit  of  a  Nation  which  refused  China's  indemnity  in 
compensation  for  the  damage  of  the  Boxer  Mo\'ement; 
which  intervened  in  behalf  of  Cuba's  liberation  and  the 
Philippine  oppression,  with  no  selfish  gain  to  itself — the 
first  token  of  the  coming  era  of  the  brotherhood  of  Nations. 
In  a  higher  sense  and  with  a  nobler  impulse  the  Church  of 


268  The  Task  That  Challenges 

God  must  respond  to  humanity's  claims,  not  solely  for  the 
relief  of  destitution  among  mountaineers,  pioneers  or 
Negroes,  but  chiefly  to  heal  the  world's  sore  and  remedy 
humanity's  ills,  supplanting  wrongs  by  the  application  of 
the  active  principles  of  Christianity. 

The  Situation   Changes. 

One  of  the  favorite  epigrams  heard  repeatedly  in  mis- 
sionary addresses  is,  that,  "while  the  nineteenth  century 
made  the  world  a  neighborhood,  the  twentieth  century 
is  making  it  a  l)rotherhood."  The  rush  of  events,  the 
rapidly  changing  world  currents  of  thought  and  life,  the 
sympathetic  attitude  of  nations  toward  new  ideals,  are 
forcing  the  Church  to  readjust  itself  to  the  new  age  which 
is  facing  and  discussing  world  crises,  world  problems,  a 
world  situation,  etc.  Suddenly  the  thought  startles  us 
that  we  must  begin  to  assign  new  meanings  to  these  terms. 
Here  in  America  itself  is  being  enacted  a  world  crisis,  here 
must  be  solved  a  world  problem,  and  here  must  be  staged 
a  world  conflict.  It  has  long  been  recognized  that  Ameri- 
can conditions  and  ideals  have  been  keeping  the  world  in  a 
turmoil.  The  conclusion  is  insistent  that  in  this  new 
world  relation  it  is  imperative  for  America  to  secure  a  better 
grasp  upon  herself  for  the  world's  sake.  This  idea  is 
beginning  to  impart  new  emphasis  as  well  as  world  im- 
portance to  the  Home  Mission  purpose  and  issue.  In  the 
minds  of  the  most  far-sighted  and  profound  thinkers  of  to- 
day, the  opinion  is  rapidly  crystallizing  into  conviction, 
that  the  spiritual  conquest  of  America  looms  larger  now 
than  any  other  task  of  the  Church.  It  has  not  yet  taken 
possession  of  the  rank  and  file,  but  it  will  assuredly  fire 
the  heart  of  the  Church,  as  the  thought  develops  mo- 
mentum. The  Christianizing  of  not  less  than  seventy- 
five  niillions  in  the  United  States  is  a  task  in  itself  of  large 
dimensions,  considering  the  fact  that  many  of  this  number 
are  already  nominal  Christians,  and  for  that  reason  more 


The  Call  to  Service  269 

difficult  to  reach;  and  the  salvation  of  all  is  beset  by  the 
fiercest  conflict  which  can  be  org;anized  b>'  the  forces  of 
evil.  But  that  which  dwarfs  all  other  considerations  is  the 
growing  conviction  of  the  Church  that  the  winning  of 
these  seventy-five  millions  is  more  essential  to  the  world's 
welfare  than  any  other  equal  number  of  people  anywhere 
on  earth. 

The  CosmopoUtan  Purpose. 

The  effort  for  the  evangelization  of  almost  any  other 
nation  is  largely  local,  terminating  with  itself.  The 
Christianizing  of  America  is  cosmopolitan  in  its  scope, 
having  for  its  objective  the  whole  wide  world.  The  win- 
ning of  Africa,  India,  or  China,  and  the  saving  of  America 
have  a  common  purpose — that  of  ministering  to  the 
spiritual  need  of  the  individual  and  the  Christianizing  of 
the  Nation;  but  the  Christianizing  of  America  furnishes 
the  additional  motive  of  world  evangelization,  in  sohing 
the  problem  of  humanity's  redemption.  In  other  words, 
the  plea  is.  Save  China  for  China's  sake;  but  save  America, 
not  only  for  America's  sake,  but  more  important  still,  for 
the  world's  sake. 

If  China  or  Africa  could  be  evangelized  to-day,  though 
at  the  enormous  cost  of  the  combined  wealth  of  the  world, 
it  would  be  worth  while.  Not  a  dollar  devoted  to  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  heathen  is  wasted.  Still,  Christian  China 
and  evangelized  Africa  would  be  powerless  to  evangelize 
the  world,  both  from  financial  and  ethnological  considera- 
tions. In  their  abject  poverty  they  are  doubtless  making 
greater  sacrifices  to-day  than  Christian  America;  but  they 
are  so  hopelessly  poor,  the  majority  struggling  continualh' 
with  starvation,  they  could  not  meet  the  world's  demands; 
and  the  world  cannot  wait,  in  its  sore  distress,  until  China 
and  Africa  are  financially  prepared  for  a  world  propaganda. 
From  an  ethnological  standpoint,  race  antipathies  render 
it  impossible  for  the  African  or  the  Chinaman  to  find  an 


270  The  Task  That  Challenges 

avenue  of  reproach  to  the  other  nations  of  the  earth.  No 
inferior  race  has  ever  been  utilized  in  the  Providence  of 
God  to  upHft  a  superior.  On  the  other  hand,  God  has 
given  to  America  the  wealth  of  the  world,  and  endowed 
the  Anglo-Saxon  with  the  very  genius  for  and  spirit  of 
evangelization. 

To  the  same  effect,  in  "The  Mission  of  Our  Nation," 
Dr.  John  F.  Love,  Secretary  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Church,  bears  testimony  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  not  the  Chinaman  or  the  African,  is  equipped 
of  God  for  the  task,  and  therefore  charged  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  evangelizing  the  world : 

"The  Anglo-Saxon  race  has  the  distinctive  capacity  for 
introducing  its  policies,  its  civilization,  its  ideals  and  its 
institutions  among  other  peoples.  There  is  not  a  colored 
race  in  the  world  which  could  evangelize  the  white  race. 
Instinctively  the  white  man  feels  that  he  is  the  colored 
man's  teacher,  while  at  the  same  time  his  humanity  impels 
a  solicitude  for  every  race.  *  *  *  jf  ^||  Chij^g.  were 
Christian,  the  Chinese  race  very  probably  could  not  evan- 
gelize a  single  American  state.  All  of  Africa  could  not 
evangelize  one  county  of  American  white  people.  If  the 
Apostles  had  turned  into  Asia  they  might,  in  the  evan- 
gelistic zeal  kindled  at  Pentecost,  have  established  Chris- 
tianity in  China.  They  might  have  done  the  same  had 
they  turned  into  Africa,  but  an  cA'angelized  Africa,  nor 
China,  nor  both  combined,  could  have  evangelized  America. 
Indeed,  Christianity  perished  in  those  parts  of  these  lands 
where  it  was  planted.  The  Anglo-Saxon  people  have  a 
great  capacity  for  Anglo-Saxonizing  other  races,  that  is 
to  say,  raising  them  to  the  standard  of  their  own  ideals  of 
government,  society  and  religion.      *     *     * 

"The  Chinaman  is  a  persistent  sort  of  mortal,  but  his 
is  a  persistence  against  progress.  Constitutionally  he 
lacks  the  elements  necessary  to  missionary  achievement. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  has  made  a  steady  advance 


The  Call  to  Service  271 

of  the  world's  barbarism  and  the  effete  civihzations  of 
other  nations.  What  changes  have  taken  place  in  Asia 
and  Africa  these  two  millenniums,  except  such  as  the  white 
man  has  instituted?  How  much  better  to-day  is  interior 
("hina  and  Africa  than  on  that  day  when  Paul  heard  the 
cry,  "Come  over,  and  help  us,"  and  turned  away  from  Asia 
to  answer  the  call  to  Europe?  What  lands  have  Chinamen 
and  Africans  subdued?  What  nations  uplifted?  What 
literature  have  they  created?  What  art,  what  music, 
what  poetry  have  they  produced?  What  sciences  have 
they  developed?  What  human  benefits  ha\e  the>'  be- 
stowed?    *     *     * 

"It  is  plain  enough  that  God  should  covet  a  race  with 
such  powers  and  such  a  future  for  the  ends  He  seeks  to  pro- 
mote in  the  world.  It  is  His  will  that  in  the  day  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  power  the  testimony,  the  fame,  the  influence  of  the 
race  shall  be  for  righteousness  and  the  founding  of  His 
Kingdom  in  the  world.  It  is  now  becoming  plain  to  all 
intelligent  men  that  unless  the  Anglo-Saxons  themselves 
throw  away  their  opportunity,  America  is  to  be  the  seat 
of  empire  for  this  race." 

The  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  never  aimless;  and 
wherever  abused  or  even  unused,  the)'  are  subject  to  the 
warning:  "Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  the  Kingdom  of 
God  shall  be  taken  from  you  and  given  to  a  nation  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof."  If  divine  providence  can  be 
interpreted  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  it  indicates  that 
for  humanity's  sake  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  are 
largely  entrusted  to  America.  The  e^■angelization  of 
Africa  and  America  being  placed  on  the  same  footing  in 
this  discussion,  as  of  equal  importance  from  the  standpoint 
of  their  own  salvation,  surely  the  intelligent  Christian  may 
without  subjecting  himself  to  the  criticism  of  selfishness 
or  narrowness,  be  allowed  to  urge  this  additional  motive — 
Save  America  for  humanity's  sake. 

Was   not    this    the    suggestion    and    meaning   of    Ralph 


272  The  Task  That  Challenges 

Waldo  Emerson,  who  insisted:  "America  is  but  another 
name  for  opportunity.  Our  whole  history  appears  like 
a  last  supreme  effort  of  divine  providence  in  behalf  of 
the  human  race".-^  To  the  same  purport,  Prof.  Park 
argued,  "Should  America  fail,  the  world  will  fail,"  for  the 
hopes  of  humanity  are  involved  in  its  destiny.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Alexander  Hamilton:  "It  is  ours  to  be  either  the 
grave  in  which  the  hopes  of  the  world  shall  be  entombed, 
or  the  pillar  of  cloud  that  shall  pilot  the  race  onward." 
"Here  beats  the  fevered  heart  of  modern  civilization,  and 
he  who  wins  that  heart  holds  the  key  to  the  centuries." 

No  man  ever  had  keener  perception  of  the  mission  of  our 
Nation,  nor  rendered  greater  service  in  awakening  it  to  the 
consciousness  of  its  immense  possibilities  than  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong,  who  asserted:  "If  this  generation  is  faithful  to  its 
trust,  the  United  States  is  to  become  God's  right  arm  in  His 
battle  with  the  world's  ignorance,  oppression  and  sin." 

Years  ago  Cressy  wrote  "The  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles 
of  the  World."  The  record  of  the  decisive  spiritual  battle 
in  the  gigantic  struggle  for  world  supremacy  has  not  and 
cannot  yet  be  written,  because  that  battle  is  now  being 
waged  with  consummate  skill  and  terrific  force.  The 
powers  of  evil  have  resurrected  and  called  into  action  all 
the  weapons  of  ages  past.  In  addition  to  the  conflict 
with  commercialism,  materialism,  agnosticism,  the  battle 
with  civilized  and  cultured  paganism  has  been  transferred 
to  this  country.  The  battlefield  is  America;  and  the  stake 
is  Anglo-Saxon  Christian  supremacy.  The  fierce  struggle 
w^hich  to-day  makes  Central  Europe  a  field  of  blood  and 
the  whole  continent  a  house  of  tears,  exacting  its  annual 
toll  of  blood  and  treasure  reaching  into  the  millions,  is 
insignificant  compared  with  the  sacrifice  of  human  souls 
and  the  issues  at  stake  in  the  conflict  with  evil.  If  we 
lose  the  fight  in  America,  it  will  affect  the  destiny  of  the 
world  for  generations  untold. 


The  Call  to  Service  273 

The  Cost  of  Preparedness. 

Germany  astonished  the  world  by  her  achievements  in 
the  face  of  tremendous  odds.  The  secret  of  her  well- 
earned  success  was  her  preparedness  in  the  matter  of  trained 
men,  and  her  abundant  supply  of  the  munitions  of  war. 
The  initial  failures  of  the  Allies,  with  greater  potential  re- 
sources and  superior  numbers,  were  pathetic  and  humiliat- 
ing, due  almost  exclusively  to  lack  of  the  immediate 
weapons  of  war.  Then  came  the  patriotic  appeal  for  sacri- 
fice, and  the  world  has  never  witnessed  such  prompt  re- 
sponse, at  such  infinite  cost  of  treasure  and  life  laid  on 
war's  gory  altar.  The  rich  yielded  up  their  great  for- 
tunes and  the  poor  denied  themselves  the  necessaries  of 
life,  in  order  that  $108,000,000  might  be  consumed  daily 
in  supplying  the  sinews  of  war.  Mothers  who  had  lost  as 
many  as  four  sons  on  the  battlefield  did  not  clasp  their 
last  and  only  ones  to  their  bosom  in  the  desperation  of 
parental  love,  but  thrust  them  to  the  front  in  the  service 
of  their  country.  All  this  vast  expenditure  of  treasure 
and  this  shedding  of  precious  blood  were  willingly  offered 
to  make  more  widows  and  more  orphans,  to  exact  more 
tears  and  more  blood,  to  wring  from  bleeding  hearts  more 
agony  and  from  suffering  humanity  more  dying  groans! 
Even  if  this  priceless  treasure  be  credited  to  patriotism, 
what  sacrifice  and  service  can  the  Church  exhibit  to  match 
this  frightful  holocaust  of  death?  Shall  the  altars  of  war 
and  of  patriotism  exact  more  treasure  than  is  yielded  for 
humanity  and  for  God?  Church  of  Christ  in  America, 
do  you  realize  your  world-wide  mission  in  an  age  on  ages 
telling?  The  impassioned  language  of  Longfellow,  ad- 
dressed to  the  American  Republic,  could  with  far  greater 
propriety  be  applied  to  the  Christian  Church  of  America: 

"Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  its  hopes  of  future  years, 
Hangs  breathless  on  thv  fate." 


274  TJte  Task  That  Challenges 

The  Response  to  Respoiislhilify. 

Now  the  practical,  the  fundamental  consideration  is 
what  shall  be  the  response  of  Christianity  to  the  call  of 
God  for  service?  Each  individual  Christian  faces  the  un- 
avoidable issue.  There  can  be  no  escaping  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  response.  In  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
as  applicable  in  this  twentieth  century  as  when  first  spoken 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  Christ  himself  suggested  three 
alternatives.  They  are  mutually  exclusive  and  they  ex- 
haust the  possibilities  of  the  case.  The  final  word  has 
been  said  on  the  subject  of  attitude  towards  human  need. 
And  every  individual  must  recognize  himself  as  enrolled  in 
one  of  the  three  typical  classes,  sharply  distinguished  from 
each  other,  in  the  attitude  toward  the  man  fallen  "among 
thieves,"  "stripped,"  "wounded,"  and  "half  dead,"  repre- 
senting humanity  fallen  in  the  streets  and  writhing  in  its 
agony  of  wretchedness. 

The  Attitude  of  the  Priest. 

"And  by  chance  there  came  down  a  certain  priest  that 
way ;  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  passed  by  on  the  other  side." 
Is  there  any  special  significance  in  Christ's  selecting  and 
pillorying  in  history  a  minister  of  religion,  as  a  type  of 
man  who  could  pass  by  human  suffering,  in  supreme  in- 
difference, utterly  unconcerned?  Are  ministers  of  re- 
ligion so  theoretical  and  professional  as  to  make  them  un- 
sympathetic with  the  real  ills  of  a  suffering  world?  Was  he 
hastening  to  meet  a  public  engagement,  and  exalted  re- 
ligious service  above  the  claims  of  humanity?  Whatever 
the  cause,  for  some  reason  human  need  failed  to  secure 
his  attention,  and  so  he  is  typical  of  multitudes  so  absorbed 
in  business,  whether  religious  or  secular,  as  to  render  it 
impossible  to  give  personal  attention  or  even  a  passing 
thought  to  human  suffering.  Such  will  sometimes  con- 
tribute thousands  to  public  charity,   but  not  themselves 


The  Call  to  Service  275 

to  the  distasteful  task  of  "visiting  widows  and  orphans  in 
their  affliction."  Many  are  so  preoccupied,  that  it  becomes 
impossible  to  induce  them  to  consider  the  claims  of  real 
need.  Personal  appeals  by  the  Secretary  of  Home  Mis- 
sions to  Christian  millionaires  have  been  rewarded  some- 
times with  the  impatient  reply:  "My  charity  is  already 
pledged  in  other  directions;  I  have  nothing  for  the  cause 
you  represent."  Is  this  priest  who  "passed  by  on  the  other 
side"  the  exponent  of  your  attitude  towards  the  fallen  and 
the  needy? 

The  Attitude  of  the  Levite. 

"And  likewise  a  Levite,  when  he  was  at  the  place,  came 
and  looked  on  him."  He  was  not  a  minister  of  religion, 
but  he  was  an  assistant  to  the  priest,  representing  the 
religious  activities  of  the  official  layman.  He  was  not 
so  indifferent  as  the  priest.  At  least  he  paused  a  moment, 
for  he  "came  and  looked  on  him.'"  He  investigated  the 
case,  and  ascertained  something  of  the  extent  of  his  wounds 
and  the  nature  of  his  sufferings;  and  then  deliberately  he, 
too,  "passed  by  on  the  other  side."  He  was  more  culpable 
if  possible  than  the  priest,  for  he  turned  his  back  on  need 
after  at  least  partial  investigation,  and  hence  greater 
knowledge.  Investigation  always  superimposes  additional 
responsibility.  The  Levite  is  typical  of  man>-  who  will 
listen  to  cases  of  suffering,  attend  missionary  conventions 
"to  hear  the  needs  presented,"  or  study  some  mission  text- 
book "to  learn  the  conditions  prevalent,"  and  flatter  them- 
selves that  they  are  "greatly  interested  in  missions,"  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  they  take  no  practical  part  in 
the  work  and  render  no  sacrifical  service.  Are  you  con- 
tent to  add  to  your  responsibility  by  pausing  long  enough 
to  "look"  on  the  needs  of  the  destitute? 


I- 


276  The  Task  That  Challenges 

The  Attitude  of  the  Samaritan . 

"But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where 
he  was,  and  when  he  saw  him" —  If  ever  man  had  a  good 
excuse  to  imitate  Priest  and  Levite,  it  was  this  Samaritan, 
for  "the  Jews  and  Samaritans  have  no  deaHngs  with  each 
other."  Race  prejudice  between  white  and  black  and  the 
caste  system  of  India,  was  not  more  pronounced  than  anti- 
pathy between  the  Jew  and  the  Samaritan.  No  Jew  would 
have  recognized  the  existence  of  a  wounded  Samaritan. 
The  woman  of  Samaria  was  amazed  that  a  Jew  would 
accept  even  a  drink  of  water  from  a  religious  rival ;  so  this 
Samaritan  might  justly  have  said:  "Let  the  Jews  take  care 
of  their  own  cases."  Instead,  how^ever,  "he  had  compas- 
sion on  him,"  placed  his  heart  throbbing  with  sympathy 
next  to  that  of  the  sufferer  ebbing  out  its  life  blood,  ex- 
hibiting the  very  spirit  of  Christ  himself,  who  in  this  Good 
Samaritan  but  thinly  disguises  himself  in  his  sympathetic 
ministrations  in  behalf  of  fallen  and  wretched  humanity. 
Compassion  and  the  relief  of  suffering  come  frequently 
from  most  unexpected  sources.  Fraternal  orders  and 
voluntary  societies  sometimes  put  the  Church  to  blush 
by  readier  response  to  the  calls  of  humanity.  He  who 
imitates  the  Good  Samaritan  is  following  the  steps  of  the 
Master  himself.  What  is  your  attitude  toward  the  Cause 
of  Humanity? 

The  most  gigantic  disaster  which  has  shocked  the  world 
in  this  twentieth  century  was  the  sinking  of  the  White 
Star  Liner,  the  Titanic,  in  the  North  Atlantic,  April, 
1912.  Imagination  can  scarcely  picture  the  scene,  when 
sixteen  hundred  human  beings  stood  on  the  deck  of  that 
ill-fated  vessel  in  the  blackness  of  midnight  darkness,  with 
the  frozen  iceberg  waters  awaiting  them.  W'ringing  their 
hands  in  the  agony  of  despair,  they  appealed  to  heaven  for 
help,  and  sent  out  their  wireless  messages  in  all  directions 
over  the  face  of  the  deep,  "Save  Our  Souls".      But  seemingly 


The  Call  to  Service  277 

there  was  no  ear  in  the  heavens  above  that  heard,  and  no 
response  from  human  hand  or  heart,  as  sixteen  hundred 
souls  went  down  in  darkness  into  those  icy  waters;  and  yet 
a  ship  passed  so  near  that  survivors  reported  that  they  saw 
the  hghts  of  the  "CaHfornian"  as  she  hurried  on  her  way. 
Whether  not  understanding  the  signals,  or  else  afraid  to 
venture  into  those  dangerous  iceberg  waters,  the  CaH- 
fornian "passed  them  by"  and  left  them  to  their  awful 
fate. 

Shall  we  hear  the  mute  appeal  of  dying  souls,  while  shall 
we  see  in  a  vision  of  need,  hands  frantically  beckoning  for 
help  and  hear  the  wail  of  the  lost,  and  turning  our  back 
upon  their  appeal,  quietly  pass  them  by  in  our  indifference, 
deliberately  leaving  them  to  their  wretched  fate? 

"The  time  is  .-hort. 
IF  thou  wouldst  work  for  God,  it  must  Ix'  now: 
If  thou  wouldst  win  the  garland  for  thy  l)row. 

Redeem  the  time." 

When  in  death's  darkness  all  alone. 

Thy  feet  can  ccme  and  go  no  more, 
The  Lord  preserve  thy  going  out 

From  this  dark  world  of  grief  and  .?in. 
While  angels  standing  round  about 

Sing  "God  preserve  thy  coming  in." 


APPENDIX 


QUESTIONNAIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 


1.  What  are  the  two  greatest  enterprises  confronting  the  Church  of 

the  present  day? 

2.  How  are  Home  and  Foreign  Missions  inter-related? 

3.  Define  Home  Missions. 

4.  Show,  by  comparison,  the  territorial  greatness  of  America;  of  our 

Southern  Field? 

5.  Estimate  the  proportion  of  unsaved  in  the  country  at  large,  and 

in  the  South,  who  challenge  the  Church  of  Christ. 

6.  How  has  this  proportion  changed  with  the  years? 

7.  How  have  general  religious   conditions   changed? 

S.  What  did  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  say  of  America  as  a  Home  Mission 

Field? 
9.  Mention  some  foes  of  pure  Christianitj\ 

10.  What  do  you  think  of  the  importance  of  the  Home  Mission  task? 

11.  Clive  some  reasons  why  it  is  impossible  to  divide  the  Home  Mission 

field  among  the  various  Protestant  denominations,  as  has  been 
attempted  in  the  Foreign  Fields. 

12.  Is  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  measiu'ing  up  to  its  full  respon- 

sibility to  the  unsaved  millions  in  our  midst? 

13.  What  is  the  individual  responsibility  of  all  Christians  in  the  South? 

CHAPTER  II. 

1.  On  what  does  the  work  of  Home  Missions  base  its  assurance  of 

ultimate  success? 

2.  Give  several  instances  of  our  staggering  national  wealth,  and  ex- 

plain why  the  South  is  destined  to  early  financial  prosperity. 

3.  What  is  the  relation   between    the    geographical   position   of   the 

United  States,  and  its  world  influence? 

4.  How  is  material  development  in  the  South  keeping  pace  with  de- 

velopment in  the  country  at  large? 

5.  As  compared  with  New  England  and  the  Middle  States? 

6.  What  do  you  think  of  the  financial  future  of  the  South? 

7.  ^Vhat  responsibility  do  these  things  entail  upon  Christians? 


Appendix  279 

8.  How  is  the  South  specially  fitted  to  conserve  and  advance   the 

Protestant  faith? 

9.  What  is  the  first  thing  needed? 

10.  What  is  the  relation  between  Christian  giving  and  living,  and  the 
extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth? 

CHAPTER  III. 

1.  Name  the  Home  Mission  Agencie,^  in    tlio    Presbyterian  Church, 

U.  S. 

2.  Define  the  spheres  of  service  of  Congregational,  Presbyterial,  and 

Synodical  Home  Missions. 

3.  What  is  the  scope  of  Assembly's  Home  Missions? 

4.  In  what  way  is  Home  Missions  both  "a  flying  goal,"   and  an  all- 

in-one  cause? 

5.  Give  some  reasons  for  the  statement  that  the  present  missionary 

force  of  our  Church  in  the  West  is  entirely  inadequate  to  the 
needs  of  today. 

6.  How  has  the  term  ''The  P>ontier"  changed  in  its  application,  and 

tell  about  some  of  the  new  "P>ontiers"? 

7.  What  work  among  foreign-speaking  people  in  the  South  is  being 

fostered  by  the  Assembly's  Home  Mission  Committee? 

8.  What  is  the  call  of  the  mountains,  and  how  is  it  being  answered? 

9.  How  are  we  meeting  the  religious  needs  of  the  Negro  in  the  South? 

10.  Describe  the  departments  of  Evangehsm  and  Sustentation,  and 

show  how  they  are  correlated. 

11.  What  are  some  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  Departments  of 

Church  and  Manse  Erection? 

12.  In  what  way  is  the  Department  of  Mission  Schools  one  of  the  most 

important  of  the  Assembly's  Committee? 

13.  In  a  sentence,  what  do  you  think  is  your  responsibility  in  connec- 

tion with  the  work   of   the  Assembly's  Home   Mission   Com- 
mittee? 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1.  Why  is  Evangelism  of  fundamental  importance? 

2.  What  does  God's  Word  say  about  soul  winning? 

3.  What  about  "the  foolishness  of  preaching?" 

4.  What  is  the  relation  between  Christianity  and  Social  Service? 

5.  How  may  "humanitarianisni"  become  a  snare  to  the  Christian? 

6.  How  is  this  danger  to  be  met  by  the  sincere  Christian? 

7.  What    present-day    conditions    emphasize    the    need    of    personal 

evangelism? 


280  Appendix 

8.  Give  briefly  the  evangelistic  plan  of  the  Assembly's  Committee. 

9.  What  field  is  there  for  personal  pastoral  evangelism? 

10.  How  may  the  individual  Christian  fulfil  his  duty  as  a  winner  of 

souls? 

11.  What  did  Andrew  do  after  he  had  "found  the  Messias?" 


CHAPTER  V. 

1.  Why  are  race  antipathies  sinful? 

2.  In  what  ways  was  slavery  a  blessing  to  the  Negro? 

3.  Give  some  instances  of  Negro  progress  since  emancipation? 

4.  Mention  some  outstanding  Negro  characteristics,  both  good  and 

bad. 

5.  Describe  some  disadvantages  under  which  the  Negro  labors. 

6.  How  has  misunderstanding  frequently  hindered  his  real  advance- 

ment? 

7.  Tell  about  some  worthy  Negroes  whom  you  personally  know. 

8.  Why  should  Southern  people  specially  concern  themselves  about 

the  bodies  and  souls  of  the  Negroes,  as  "those  who  must  give 
account"? 

9.  Give  a  brief  account  of  Pres))yterian  work  among  the  Negroes. 
10.  Debate:  Resolved — That  the  presence  of  the  Negro  in  the  South 

has  been  as  much  of  a  blessing  to  the  white  man  as  to  the  black. 
(Do  not  confine  the  discussion  of  this  subject  to  the  material  in  the 
text-book.     Consult  other  good  books,  and  bring  to  bear  upon  it  your 
own  knowledge   and   experience.) 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  "Church  Erection." 

2.  Why  is  this  cause  of  fundamental  importance  to   the  life  and 

growth  of  a  denomination? 

3.  How  is  it  a  gauge  of  denominational  loyalty? 

4.  Compare  the  "Church  Erection  Fund"  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 

IT.  S.,  with  that  of  other  denominations. 

5.  How  have  certain  of  our  special  funds  proved  the  truth  of  Prov. 

11:24? 
G.  Did  our  Lord's  commendation  of  the  widow's  "two  mites"  in  Mark 

12:41-44,  lessen  the  obligation  of  those  who  have  more  to  "cast 

in  much"  into  his  treasury? 
7.  What  is  the  "Semi-Centennial  Building  Fund,"  and  what  has  been 

accomplished  so  far? 


Appendix  281 

8.  How  is  such  a  Fund  the  best  "Memorial?" 

9.  Describe  another  important  Fund  established  by  the  Executive 

Committee  of  Home  Missions  for  the  benefit  of  living  donors? 
10.  What  i.:;  the  special  call  to  us  to  devise  "liberal  things"  for  this 
foundational  cause  of  our  Church? 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1.  What  well  known  sayings  emphasize  the  value  of  the  child? 

2.  In  what  way  is  education  the  handmaid  of  religion? 

3.  Compare  the  educational  standing  of  the  larger  denominations  in 

the  South. 

4.  How  may  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  regain  its  former  primacy 

in  education? 

5.  What  is  the  place  of  the  Christian  school  in  the  life  of  the  Nation? 

6.  Show^  by  figures  the  importance  of  the  denominational  school  in 

the  life  of  the  Church. 

7.  Mention  some  incidents  that  show  the  need  and  the  value  of  Mis- 

sion schools. 

8.  Among  what  peoples  is  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  conducting 

Mission  schools? 

9.  Give  two  items  concerning  each. 

10.  Give  a  brief  summary  of  the  appeal  of  Dr.  E.  O.  Guerrant  for  the 

mountain  people. 

11.  How  has  the  Presbyterian  Church  honored  it.5elf  in  honoring  Dr. 

Guerrant? 

CHAPTER  YIII. 

1.  In  what  way  are  all  white  Americans    "children  of  immigrants?" 

2.  Show,  by  some  striking  illu.^ration,  the  volume  of  recent  immigra- 

tion. 

3.  Tell  how  the  character  of  immigration  has  changed  during  recent 

years. 

4.  What    influence  is  this  having  upon  the  Nation;  what  upon  the 

Church? 

5.  What   have   some   students   of   immigrant   conditions   said   about 

present  conditions  and  prospects? 

6.  How  does  our  attitude  make  this  a  peril  or  a  God-given  opportunity? 

7.  Describe  briefly  the  missionary  work  carried  on  by  the  Presbyterian 

Church  U.  S.,  among  the  Mexicans  in  Texas  and  the  Cubans  in 
Florida. 

8.  Among  the  people  in  our  midst  speaking  European  languages. 

9.  Among  Orientals? 


282  Appendix 

10.  Mention  some  incidents  of  the  reflex  value  of  Christian  missionary 

work  among  foreigners  in  America. 

11.  How   is   immigration   affecting  our  understanding   of  world-wide 

missions? 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1.  Ho\v  have  changing  conditions  affected  the  Country  church? 

2.  In  what  way  is  the  continuance  and  strength  of  the  Country 

church  one  of  the  most  important  problems  of  the  day? 

3.  How  are  Government,  State  and  Church  agencies  seeking  a  solu- 

tion? 

4.  Describe  some  conditions  revealed  by  Rural  Surveys? 

5.  What   contributions   have   the   Steele   Creek   and   other   country 

churches  of  Mecklenburg  Co.,  N.  C,  made  to  the  religious  life 
of  that  entire  section? 

6.  How  is  the  extension  of  "tenant  farming"  a  peril? 

7.  What  danger  attends  the  "absentee  pastorate?" 

8.  Why  should  not  the  Church  be  as  considerate  and  as  just  toward 

its  workers  in  weak  or  needy  fields  at  Home,  as  in  dark  fields  in 
Foreign  lands? 

9.  How  may  the  Country  church  itself  help  to  improve  conditions? 

10.  Mention  some  ways  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the  Country  church 

of  the  present  day? 

11.  Can  you  suggest  a  better  program  for  the  Country  church  than 

that  proposed? 
N.  B. — Carefully  compiled  and  instructive  Reading  Courses, 
planned  by  an  expert,  may  be  obtained  from  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education,  Home  Education  Division,  Washington,  D.  C.  Helpful 
literature  on  agriculture  and  general  rural  subjects  will  be  furnished 
free  by  the  U.  S.  Government  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  various  State  Departments  of  Agriculture  and  Agricultural 
Colleges.  The  general  offices  of  the  national  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  New  York  City,  also  issue  valuable  literature  on  this  subject. 

CHAPTER  X. 

1.  Is  woman's  interest  in  Christian  work  a  recent  development?     Cite 

instances  recorded  in  the  New  Testament. 

2.  What  are   the   two   interdenominational  organizations  of  women 

and  what  educational  work  have  they  accomplished? 

3.  What  was  the  last  evangelical   denomination  in  the  United    States 

to  complete  the  woman's  organization  of  the  Church? 

4.  Tell  something  of  the  first  Missionary  societies  organized  in  the 

Southern  Presbyterian  Church? 


Appendix  283 

0.  What  was  the  first  Presljyterial  Union  organized,  and  what  were 

the  steps  which  led  up  to  it? 

6.  When  and  where  was  the  first  Hynodical  Unif)n  organizofl  in  the 

Southern  Presbyterian  Church? 

7.  What  can  you  tell  of  the  work  which  preceded    the   organization 

of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary,  and  when  and  where  was  it  organized? 

8.  What  are  the  various  steps  in  the  organization  of  the  Woman's 

Auxiliary  and  what  do  they  include?     (See  the  Auxiliary  as  a 
Triangle). 

9.  Give  the  three  characteristics  of  the  plan  of  the  Auxiliary  and  ex- 

plain each. 

10.  Give  some  results  which  have  accrued  from  the  life  of  the  Auxiliary 

in   the   way   of   complete   organization,    educational   work   and 
financial  increase. 

11.  What  are  the  three  great  responsibilities  facing  the  Organization? 

CHAPTER  XI. 

1.  Why  is  the  task  of  the  Church  a  spiritual  one? 

2.  In  what  way  have  changed  conditions  in  our  country  altered  the 

present  ideal  and  scope  of  Home  Missions? 

3.  Is  the  Church  keeping  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  country? 

4.  How  is  this  age  of  "specializing"  affecting  the  method  of  training 

workers  for  Home  Mission  fields? 

5.  Mention  several  ways  in  which  theological  seminaries  are  broad- 

ening their  work,  better  to  meet  present  needs. 

6.  How  would  the  gift  of  several  "Immigrant  Fellowships"  give  sta- 

bility and  impetus  to  the  foreign-speaking  work  of  the  Church? 

7.  What  are  some  of  the  qualifications  demanded  for  successful  Home 

Mission  work? 

8.  Why  is  enthusiasm  so  preeminently  a  requisite? 

9.  Is  any  man  or  woman  "sufficient  for  these  things?" 

10.  What  debt  does  the  Church  owe  her  Home  missionaries? 

CHAPTER  XII. 

1.  Why  is  the  book  of  Isaiah  sometimes  called  "The  Gospel  of  Isaiah?" 

2.  In  what  respect  are  the  messages  of  Isaiah  and  of  the  New  Testa- 

ment writers  identical? 

3.  Give  several  illustrations  of  an  ojjjxjrtunity,  "an  open  door,"  being 

a  direct  call  of  God. 

4.  How  have  changing  physical  or  social  conditions  frequently  brought 

moral  responsibility? 


284  Appendix 

5.  Is  the  fact  that  no  special  work  is  being  urged  upon  us  an  evidence 
that  God  holds  us  responsible  for  none?     Give  reasons. 

t).  Does  ignorance  of  the  Church's  w^ork  on  the  part  of  any  members 
absolve  them  from  obligation  for  that  work?     Give  reasons. 

7.  In  what  sense  is  human  need  the  call  of  God? 

8.  Mention  some  of  the  things  that  have  made  the  world  today, 

even  closer  than  a  neighborhood — a  "Brotherhood?" 

9.  What  obligation  does  this  impose  upon  the  Church  of  Christ  in 

America? 

10.  What  lesson  may  the  Church  learn  from  this  terrible  world-war? 

11.  Apply  to  our  present-day  conditions  the  lesson  conveyed  by  Christ's 

parable  of  "The  Good  Samaritan." 

12.  Something  to  think  about  and  answer  silently:  What  would  happen 

if  we  accepted  as  a  direct  call  of  God  an  opportunity  to  do  a 
definite  Christian  service? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL  AND  HISTORICAL. 

American  Social  and  Religious  Conditions,  Charles  Stelzle.  Flem- 
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At  Our  Own  Door,  S.  L.  Morris.  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Pul)- 
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Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  Walter  Rauschenbusch.  The 
MacMillan  Co.,  New  York.     SL50. 

Christianizing  the  Social  Order,  Walter  Rauschenbusch.  The 
MacMillan  Co.,  New  York.     $1.50 

Conservation  of  National  Ideals,  Various  Authors.  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  New  York.     50c. 

Elemental  Forces  in  Home  Missions,  Lemuel  Call  Barnes.  Fleming 
H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York.     75c. 

Heroes  of  the  Cross  in  America,  Don  O.  Shelton.  Missionary  Edu- 
cation Movement,  New  York.     50c. 

Home  Missions  in  Action,  Edith  H.  Allen.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     50c. 

Horizon  of  American  Missions,  I.  H.  McNash.  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Co.     $1.00. 

Leavening  the  Nation,  Joseph  B.  Clark.  Baker  &  Taylor  Co., 
New  York.     $1.25. 

Missions  Striking  Home,  Joseph  Ernest  McAfee.  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  New  York.     75c. 

Our  Home  Mission  Work,  Chas.  E.  Schaeffer.  Publication  and  S. 
S.  Board,  Reformed  Church  in  U.  S.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     75c. 

Sheldon  Jackson,  Robt.  L.  Stewart.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New 
York.     $2.00. 

The  Call  of  the  Homeland,  A.  L.  Phillips.  Presbyterian  Committee 
of  Publication,  Richmond,  Va.     50c. 

The  Christian  Ministry  and  the  Social  Order,  Chas.  S.  MacFarland. 

The  Frontier,  Ward  Piatt.  Missionary  Education  Movement, 
New  York.     50c. 

The  Home  Mission  Task,  Victor  I.  Masters.  The  Blosser  Co., 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  Mission  of  Our  Nation,  Jas.  F.  Love.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     $1.00. 

The  New  Home  Missions,  H.  Paul  Douglass.  Missionary  Flduca- 
tion  Movement,  New  York.     60c. 


286  Bibliography 

The  Social  Task  of  Christianity,  Samuel  Zane  Batten.  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  New  York.     $1.25. 

The  South  Today,  John  M.  Moore.  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment,  New  York.     60c. 

What  Makes  a  Nation  Great,  Frederick  Lynch.  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Co.,  New  York.     7.5c. 

World  Missions  from  the  Home  Base,  J.  Ernest  McAfee,  Fleming 
H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York.     75c. 

COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL  PROBLEMS. 

Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,  K.  L.  Butterfield.  University  of  Chicago 
Press.     $1.00. 

Our  Southern  Highlanders,  Horace  Kephart.  Outing  Publishing 
Co.,  New  York.     $2.50. 

The  Challenge  of  the  Country,  Walter  G.  Fiske.  Association 
Press,   New  York.     75c. 

The  Church  and  Country  life,  Paul  M.  Voght.  Missionary  Pkluca- 
tion  Movement,  New  York.     $1.00. 

The  Church  at  the  Center,  Warren  H.  Wilson.  Missionary  Educa- 
tion Movement,  New  York.     60c. 

The  Church  of  the  Open  Country,  Warren  H.  Wilson.  Missionary 
Education  Movement,  New  York.     60c. 

The  Country  Church,  C.  O.  Gill  and  Gifford  Pinchot.  The  Mac- 
Millan  Co.,  New  York.     $1.25. 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural  Problem,  K.  L.  Butterfield. 
University  of  Chicago   Press,   Chicago.     $1.00. 

The  Country  Chm-ch  Bulletins,  Prof.  E.  C.  Bran.-son.  Chapel  Hill, 
N.    C.     Free." 

The  Country  Life  Movement  in  the  United  States,  L.  H.  Bailey. 
The  MacMillan  Co.,  New  York.     $1.25. 

The  Day  of  tlie  Country  Church,  J.  O.  Ashenhurst.  Funk  A  Wag- 
nails  Co.,   New  York  City.     $1.00. 

The  Rural  Life  Problem  in  the  ITnited  States,  Sir  Horace  Plunkett. 
The  MacMillan  Co.,  New  York.     $1.25. 

The  Church's  Mission  to  the  Mountaineers  of  the  South,  Walter 
Hughson.     Church  Missions  Publishing  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn.     75c. 

The  Highlanders  of  the  South,  Samuel  H.  Thompson.  Eaton  & 
Mains,  New  York.     50c. 

The  Southern  Mountaineers,  Samuel  T.  Wilson.  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Home  Missions,  New  York.     60c. 


Bibliography  287 

THE  CITY. 

Christianity's  Storm  Center,  Charles  Stelzle.  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Co.,  New  York.     $1.00. 

The  Battle  with  the  Slum,  Jacob  A.  Riis.  The  MacMillan  Co., 
New  York.     $2.00. 

The  Burden  of  the  City,  Isabelle  Horton.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     50c. 

The  Challenge  of  the  City,  Josiah  Strong.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York.     60c. 

The  Leaven  in  a  Great  City,  Lillian  W.  Betts.  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
New  York.     SL50. 

The  Redemption  of  the  City,  Chas.  H.  Sears.  Griffith  &  Rowland 
Press,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     50c. 

IMMIGRATION. 

Against  the  Current,  Edward  A.  Steiner.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New    York.     $L50. 

Aliens  or  Americans,  Howard  B.  Grose.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York.     50c. 

From  Alien  to  Citizen,  Edward  A.  Steiner.  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Co.,  New  York.     $L75. 

Immigrant  Forces,  W.  P.  Shriver.  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment,  New  York.     60c. 

Immigrant  Races  of  North  America,  Peter  Roberts.  Association 
Press,  New  York.     50c. 

On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant,  Edward  A.  Steiner.  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  New  York.     $1.75. 

Our  Slavic  Fellow  Citizens,  Emily  G.  Balch.  Charities  Publication 
Committee,  New  York.     $2.50. 

Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  J.  E.  Commons.  The  MacMil- 
lan Co.,  New  York.       $1.50. 

The  Broken  Wall,  Edward  A.  Steiner.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New 
York.     $1.15. 

The  Immigrant,  Frederick  J.  Haskin.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New 
York.     $1.25. 

The  Immigrant  Invasion,  Frank  J.  Warne.  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
New  York.     .$2.50. 

The  Immigration  Problem,  Jenks  &  Lauck.  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co., 
New  York.     $1.75. 


288  Bibliography 

The  Immigrant  Tide,  Its  Ebb  and  Plow,  Edward  A.  Steiner.  Flem- 
ing H.  Revell  Co.     $1.75. 

The  Making  of  an  American,  Jacob  Riis.  The  MacMiUan  Co., 
New  York.     $1.50. 

The  New  America,  M.  C.  and  L.  C.  Barnes.  Fleming  H.  Revell 
Co.,  New  York.     50c. 

The  New  Immigration,  Peter  Roberts.  The  MacMiUan  Co.,  New 
York.     $1.50. 

The  Promised  Land,  Mary  Antin.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  New 
York.     $1.75. 

They  Who  Knock  at  Our  Gates,  Mary  Antin.  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  New  York.     $1.00. 

THE  INDIAN. 

Goodbird,  The  Indian,  Gilbert  L.  Wilson.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     25c. 

In  Camp  and  Tepee,  Elizabeth  M.  Page.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New   York.     $1.00. 

In  Red  Man's  Land,  Francis  E.  Leupp.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     50c. 

Kiowa,  Isabel  Crawford.     Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York.     $1.25. 

The  American  Indian  on  the  New  Trail,  Thomas  C.  Moffett.  Mis- 
sionary Education  Movement,  New  York.     60c. 

The  Indian  and  His  Problem,  Francis  E.  Leupp.  Chas.  Scribner's 
Sons,  New  York.     $2.00. 

The  Indian  Dispossessed,  Seth  K.  Humphrey.  Little  Brown  &  Co., 
Boston.     $1.50. 

The  Story  of  the  Indian,  Geo.  B.  Grinnell.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York.     $1.50. 

THE  NEGRO. 

Christian  Reconstruction  in  the  South,  H.  Paul  Douglass.  Pilgrim 
Press,  Boston.     $1.50. 

Following  the  Color  Line,  Ray  S.  Baker.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co., 
New  York.     $2.00. 

From  Darkness  to  Light,  Mary  Helm.  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment,  New  York.     50c. 

In  Black  and  White,  L.  H.  Hanunond.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York.     $1.25. 


Bibliography  289 

Negro  Life  in  the  South,  W.  D.  Weatherford.  Association  Press, 
New  York.     50c. 

Present  Forces  in  Negro  Progress,  W.  D.  Weatherford.  Association 
Press,  New  York.     50c. 

The  Negro  Year  Book,  Marvin  N.  \\'ork.  Negro  Year  liook  Puh- 
Hshing  Co.,  Tuskegee,  Ala.     25c. 

The  Upward  Path,  Mary  Hehn.  Missionary  Education  Move- 
ment, New  York.     60c. 

Up  from  Slavery,  Booker  T.  Washington.  Doubleday,  Page  A:  Co., 
New  York.     iSl.SO. 


3nbex 


A 

Aljbeville  School 154 

Advantages  of  U.  S 21 

Agricultural  Products 20 

Agencies  of  Home. Missions 32 

Aldrich,  T.  B.,  quoted 164 

America,  Key  to  Situation 15 

Annuity  Plan 125 

Appalachia 44 

Area  of  Territory 3-4-5 

Arguments 257 

Assurances 31 

Auxiliary's  Work 231ff 

Attitudes 274ff 

B 

Beiderwolf,  Dr.  W.  E.,  quoted 72 

Bohemian  Mission 17'.l 

Barton,  Katherine  M.,  quoted 200 

C 

Call  to  Service 253 

Catholicism 14 

Causes  United 30 

Christian  Science 14 

Church  Erection  Loans 115 

Conflicting  Forces 13 

Comparisons  in  South 25 

Comparisons  of  Salaries 200 

Colored  Work 45f f 

Country  Church 187ff 

Cosmopolitan  Purpose 209 

Cost  of  Preparedness 273 

Cry  of  Mountains 265 

Cuban  Mission 177 


Index  291 


D 

Decline  of  Country  Church 197 

Doughty,  W.  E.,  quoted 4,  7,  20 

E 

Early  Missionary  Societies 223 

Ecclesiastical  Errors 103 

Economic  Ecjuipment 22 

Educational  Leadershij) 131 

Ellis,  Mr.  W.  T.,  cjuoted 15 

Erection  of  Churches o  1 ,  11 2 

Equipment  needed " 12() 

Evangehsm 47ff ,  "jO,  (iS,  SO 

Evane,elistic  Campaigns 72ff 

F 

Features  of  Mission  Schools 136 

French  Missions 177 

Foreigners  in  U.  S 41ff 

Foreign-Speaking  Schools 151 

G 

Goodland 147 

Grafton,  Dr.  C.  W 207 

Guerrant,  Dr.  E.  < ).,  ciuoted 155 

Guerrant  Inland  Mission 154 

H 

Hillis,  Dr.  N.  D.,  quoted 4,  22 

Historic  Development 37ff 

History  of  School  Influence 135 

Humanitarianism 65 

Humanity's  Call 267 

I 

Illustrations 256ff 

Immigrant  Tide 160 

Immigrant  vs.  Emigrant 264 

Imi)ortance  of  Country 188 

Indian 146 


292  Index. 

Influence  on  Foreigners 180 

Interdenominational  Women's  Work 220 

Italian  Mission  Schools 177 

L 

Lay  Evangelism , 80 

Love,  Dr.  Jno.  F.,  quoted 2 

M 

Macedonian  Cry 263 

Manse  Building  Fund 117 

Mecklenburg  Presbytery 196 

McMillan,  Dr.  Homer,  quoted 15,  144 

Mission  Schools 128 

Mission  Study 235 

Missionary  Survey 235 

Modern  Call 255 

Moore  Loan  Fund 116 

Mormonism 14 

Mott,  John  R.,  quoted 2,  15 

Mountain  Work 43 

Mountain  Schools 150 

Mutual  Dejiendence  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions 1,  2,  3 

N 

Need  of  Schools 1 46 

New  Methods 241 

New  Frontier 40 

Negro  Progress 88 

Negro  Problem ; 96 

Negro  Religion 100 

Negro  Missions 101-108 

O 

( )bjections  to  Mission  Schools 143 

( )])portunities 57,  255,  260 

( )klahoma  Presbyterian  College 148 

<  )mission 55 


Index  293 
P 

Pastoral  Evangelism '  "*" 

Percentage  of  Church  Members 9 

Personal  Work ^^ 

Perils  of  Immigration 

Piatt,  Dr.  ^Yard,  quoted ^>^^ 

Population 

Presbyterian  Obligation 

Presbyterian  Rural  Work ^^^ 

Presbyterian  Organization -'^" 

D    ui"                                                                                                   .-  12,62 

Problems ' 

Program  for  Rural  Church -l"^ 

Purpose  of  Home  Mission  Committee 34 

Q 

Qualifications  of  Home  Missionary 246 

R 

Race  Prejudice ^ 

Rankin,  Dr.  J.  D.,  quoted 63,  70 

x^  19  23  25 

Resources i»,  -o,  ...j 

Results  of  Auxiliary -'^'* 

Revivals ^^ 

Responsibility ^ 

Resolution  of  Home  Mission  Council 16 

Rural  Situation ^*^-^'  -^6 

Rural  Surveys ^^^ 

S 

Sacrifice  of  Rural  Workers 205 

Safeguards 

lis 

Semi-Centennial  Building  Fund ^^° 

Schools ^ 

Slavery 84ff 

9fiS 

Situation  Changes ^"° 

Source  of  Supply 

Social  Service 

28 
Spiritual  Forces 

Steele  Creek  Church 200 

Stillman  Institute ^^'^ 

Statistics  in  South 


294  Index 

Strong,  Dr.  Josiah,  quoted 15 

Subscription  Forms 124 

Suggestions 244 

Summer  Conference 235 

Synodical  Organization 228 

T 

Texas-Mexican  Missions 175 

Thompson,  Harriet,  quoted 66 

Trained  Leadership 2;5.S 

Training  for  Country  Work 210 

Tyler,  Dr.  J.  W.  quoted 53 

U 

Unoccupied  Ivands 6 

Unreached  Masses ,S 

W 

Western  Frontier 3.S 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  ((uoted 2() 

World's  Greatest  Mission  Field 13 

World  P'actor 35 

Woman's  Work 219-  221 

Woman's  Responsibility 236 

Y 

Young  People's  Work 236 


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